■INDIA
Interest rates raised 0.25%
The central bank has unexpectedly hiked key interest rates a quarter of a percentage point, as the bank tries to cool high inflation amid a faster-than-expected economic rebound. The bank raised the benchmark repo rate — at which the central bank makes short-term loans to commercial banks — to 5 percent and raised the reverse repurchase rate — the rate at which it borrows from commercial banks — to 3.5 percent, with immediate effect. “These measures should anchor inflationary expectations and contain inflation going forward,” the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement after trading hours Friday.
■HOUSING
Container houses reappear
Rocketing house prices in China’s booming south are forcing low-earners to turn to cheap homes made out of shipping containers, state media said on Friday. Clusters of container villages are cropping up around the boomtown of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, where real estate prices can rise as high as 20,000 yuan (US$2,900) per square meter, the People’s Daily said on its Web site. An 18m² container can be rented for an entire year for just more than 2,000 yuan, the report said. The containers, fitted with kitchens, bathrooms and windows, are gaining popularity among migrant laborers, builders and students, it said.
■FRAUD
Tax evasion investigated
German prosecutors said on Friday they were investigating about 1,100 customers and staff of Swiss bank Credit Suisse’s local operations on suspicion of hiding money from German tax authorities. “The Credit Suisse clients have investments in total of around 1.2 billion euros [US$1.6 billion],” said Dirk Negenborn, spokesman for prosecutors in Duesseldorf, Germany. He said the total amount of tax owed was unclear. Sources said the Credit Suisse information should allow German tax authorities to recover up to 400 million euros.
■MOVIES
Icahn ups ante on Lions Gate
Activist shareholder Carl Icahn raised the stakes in his yearlong dispute with Lions Gate Entertainment Corp on Friday, launching an all-out bid to take over the movie studio following disagreements over its spending. The hostile bid comes a week after Lions Gate rejected Icahn’s offer to buy a larger minority stake and rewrote its bylaws to make such a takeover attempt more difficult in future. The new offer for all outstanding shares also raised the specter of Canadian government involvement because Icahn, an American, could own the Vancouver-based company and cause friction with the country’s cultural policies. Icahn owns almost 19 percent of Lions Gate.
■AIRCRAFT
Boeing speeds up production
Boeing Co will speed up production plans for its 777 and 747 models in anticipation of greater demand from commercial airlines. Boeing, the world’s second-largest aircraft maker behind Airbus, said on Friday it saw the airline industry recovering this year, followed by a return to profitability next year. That should lead to demand for new aircraft in 2012 and beyond, the company said. The company also said the speedup was necessary because of a “conservatively managed approach to production.” Boeing said it did not think the new production schedule would have a material impact on earnings this year. It expects to offer an update to its earnings forecast when it releases first-quarter results next month.
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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