■ CURRENCIES
Euro reaches new high
The euro rose to another new record against the US dollar yesterday, hitting US$1.4130 as last week's US Federal Reserve interest rate cut continued to weigh on the US currency. The 13-state currency rose to US$1.4130 before settling back slightly to US$1.4115 in early morning European trading. That compared with a previous peak of US$1.4119 on Friday and with the US$1.4083 it bought in New York late that day. In other trading yesterday, the British pound rose to US$2.0288 from US$2.0200. The US dollar also slid to ?115.01 from ?115.39.
■ BANKING
EU giant in the making
The public owners of the two biggest German public sector banks have begun talks that could lead to a new banking giant in Europe, press reports said yesterday. A merger of Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (LBBW) and Bayern LB would create the second-biggest German bank and one of the biggest in Europe with assets of more than 900 billion euros (US$1.27 billion), the Financial Times reported. A possible three-way tie-up might also include WestLB, the state-owned bank based in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Financial Times and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported.
■ WINE
Grape harvest drops
Australia's wine grape harvest next year could be cut by more than half by the worst drought in a century, industry groups said yesterday. The vintage is expected to be between 800,000 tonnes and 1.3 million tonnes, down from an average of approximately 1.9 million tonnes, a forecast by an industry taskforce said. "As the season progresses, we will be able to refine our forecasts," said Wine Grape Growers Australia executive director Mark McKenzie. "However, we know for certain that yields will be down dramatically in those regions relying heavily on irrigation water from the Murray Darling."
■ AUTOMOBILES
Ford factory goes online
Ford Motor Co said its newest joint-venture factory in China began operations yesterday and will produce small cars under the Ford and Mazda brands for the fast-growing Chinese market. The US$510 million factory in Nanjing will have an initial production capacity of 160,000 vehicles per year, Ford said. It said that would increase Ford's annual production capacity in China to 410,000 vehicles. The unusually flexible new factory can produce eight models on different chassis, the company said. Ford says its sales in China rose 29 percent in the first eight months of this year to 114,702 vehicles.
■ IPO
Bank raises US$7.6 billion
China Construction Bank Corp (中國建設銀行) said yesterday it had raised 57.12 billion yuan (US$7.6 billion) from its initial public offering in Shanghai, the largest in the country. The proceeds, slightly less than the figure of 58.05 billion yuan announced last week, will be used to supplement working capital, the Beijing-based bank said in an official statement to the Shanghai stock exchange. The country's second-largest bank by assets, which already has a listing in Hong Kong, offered nine billion shares at 6.45 yuan per share, a price at the top end of its proposed range. Its shares will start trading today.
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
INDUSTRIAL CLUSTER: In Germany, the sector would be developed around Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s plant, and extend to Poland and the Czech Republic The Executive Yuan’s economic diplomacy task force has approved programs aimed at bolstering the nation’s chip diplomacy with Japan and European nations. The task force in its first meeting had its operational mechanism and organizational structure confirmed, with Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) the convener, and Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and Minister Without Portfolio Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) the deputy conveners. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) would be the convener of the task force’s strategy group in charge of policy planning for economic diplomacy. The meeting was attended by the heads of the National Development Council, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the
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