■ APPAREL
Wacoal goes domestic
Thailand’s largest lingerie-manufacturer has refocused on the domestic market amid predictions that US demand for women’s underwear will feel the pinch as a result of the financial crisis, news reports said yesterday. “We can’t rely much of the export market because the crisis will make other countries suspend orders,” said Amnuay Bumroongwongtong, managing director of Thai Wacoal. Amnuay said Thai Wacoal had yet to receive any cancellations of orders but he predicted the US market for lingerie would “dry up” next year.
■BANKING
ANZ subsidiary approved
Vietnam has given the go-ahead for Australia’s ANZ bank to set up a wholly owned subsidiary based in Hanoi, an official statement said yesterday. ANZ will be allowed to operate for 99 years, an online statement by the State Bank of Vietnam said, citing a license signed on Thursday. The bank, which has been operating in the country since 1993, already has retail and institutional businesses in the country and holds a 10 percent stake in Sacombank, Vietnam’s leading commercial bank.
■LABOR
Coke plant ousts protesters
A Coca-Cola bottling company in Venezuela retook control of a distribution plant from protesting ex-workers on Friday, ending a standoff that the company says cost it about US$9 million. Coca-Cola FEMSA de Venezuela SA recovered control on Friday of all its distribution centers that were blocked by former contract workers and transport workers, company legal director Rodrigo Anzola said. He told reporters the Mexican-owned company received help from police.
■MEDIA
Viacom trims outlook
Viacom Inc is trimming its outlook for the year, blaming slowing advertising revenue and the souring global economy for the decline. Viacom said its full-year net earnings from continuing operations would grow in the “mid-single to low double-digit” percentage range, down from the “low double-digit” growth it predicted in July, based on a 2 percent decline in global ad revenues. Viacom earned US$2.36 per share last year. The media company is a media conglomerate that owns MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures.
■INTERNET
YouTube goes full-length
YouTube said on Friday it is adding full-length television shows to the menu at its globally popular Web site famous for snack-sized video snippets. Episodes of classic television programs including Star Trek, MacGyver and Beverly Hills 90210 will be available in a “theater view” format unveiled at YouTube earlier this week. “We are starting to test full-length programming on YouTube, beginning with some fan favorites requested by you,” the Google-owned Web site said in a message posted online.
■SHIPPING
NOL drops Hapag-Lloyd bid
The Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) has dropped out of the race to buy German container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd, NOL said. NOL, which is 66 percent owned by Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings, said in a statement late on Friday “it is no longer engaged in the bidding process for the sale” of Hapag-Lloyd. The Singapore firm’s binding offer submitted on Sept. 26 has lapsed, NOL said.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
‘LASER-FOCUSED’: Trump pledged tariffs on specific sectors, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, steel, copper and aluminum, and perhaps even cars US President Donald Trump said he wants to enact across-the-board tariffs that are “much bigger” than 2.5 percent, the latest in a string of signals that he is preparing widespread levies to reshape US supply chains. “I have it in my mind what it’s going to be but I won’t be setting it yet, but it’ll be enough to protect our country,” Trump told reporters on Monday night. Asked about a report that incoming US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent favored starting with a global rate of 2.5 percent, Trump said he did not think Bessent supported that and would not
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