UNITED STATES
Biden latches onto S&P 500
US President Joe Biden touted the S&P 500 index’s record high as a sign of US economic strength, making a rare comment on the stock market after a tough week in his re-election bid that focused attention on his age and mental acuity. The S&P 500 topped 5,000 for the first time on Friday, spurred by big-tech stocks and speculation that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates soon. By contrast, Biden’s week included gaffes in which he mixed up the names of world leaders — and a special counsel’s report said the 81-year-old president showed “diminished faculties and faulty memory.”
ENERGY
Tax savings help ONGC
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), India’s largest oil and gas explorer, posted better-than-expected quarterly profit as lower windfall tax helped offset impact of the decline in oil and gas prices. Still, net income fell 14 percent to 95.4 billion rupees (US$1.1 billion) for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with 110.4 billion rupees a year-ago, according to an exchange filing on Saturday. Revenue fell 9.8 percent to 347.9 billion rupees, according to the state-owned explorer, which accounts for 67 percent of India’s oil and 54 percent its gas production.
ITALY
Bonds pitched in TV show
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s plan to shift the burden of Italy’s debt to her voters reached a new milestone when a pitch for government bond sales ran during the nation’s most iconic song contest. The advertisement, which appeared during a public TV broadcast from the annual Sanremo Music Festival on Friday night, promoted an issuance of the BTP Valore bond later this month as offering an “advantageous return exclusively dedicated to small savers.” Getting ordinary savers to buy debt, along with taking measures to avoid any worsening of public finances, are now key pillars of Rome’s strategy to stay sustainably afloat.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford working on cheap EVs
Ford Motor Co is working on inexpensive, small electric vehicles (EVs) to stem its electric vehicle losses and take on Tesla Inc and Chinese automakers. Chief executive officer Jim Farley revealed the plans to analysts on Tuesday after the automaker announced adjusted earnings per share of US$0.29 for the fourth quarter of last year, more than double the US$0.13 analysts expected on average. Fourth-quarter revenue of US$46 billion surpassed the US$40.3 billion analysts expected. The small team is being led by Alan Clarke, executive director of advanced EV development, who came to Ford two years ago after more than 12 years developing models for Tesla.
BANKING
Barclays to tamp fossil fuels
British bank Barclays PLC said on Friday it would stop directly financing its energy clients’ new oil and gas projects. As part of its updated climate strategy, the bank added it would scale back lending for existing fossil fuel projects as the sector faces intense pressure from activist investors to help tackle climate change. Additional curbs will be introduced on unconventional oil and gas, including extra heavy oil, Barclays said. The bank also expects “energy clients to produce transition plans or decarbonization strategies” by next year, it said, adding that it would require energy clients to commit to other targets, including the reduction of methane and carbon emissions from operations.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in