■ US economy
New law eyes rating firms
US President George W. Bush on Friday signed legislation under which the government will more closely monitor agencies that rate the credit worthiness of corporations with publicly held securities. Supporters described the Credit Rating Agency Reform Act as a significant component of congressional efforts tighten controls over the financial community following the corporate accounting scandals at the beginning of the decade. The bill takes steps to increase competition in a field now dominated by three Wall Street agencies -- Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.
■ Power
Tokyo Electric may sell grid
Tokyo Electric Power Co, Asia's biggest power producer, said it may sell fiber-optic networks to KDDI Corp, Japan's second-largest mobile phone operator. KDDI has agreed to buy Tokyo Electric Power's fiber-optic communications business for about ¥100 billion (US$847.2 million) in shares, the Nihon Keizai newspaper earlier reported, without citing where it obtained the information. Both Tokyo Electric Power spokesman Kaoru Yoshida and KDDI spokesman Haruhiko Maede said the companies are still discussing ways to integrate their fiber-optic operations and haven't reached an official agreement.
■ Finance
Beijing to keep yuan stable
China will maintain "stability" in the yuan's exchange rate as well as the country's monetary policies, the central bank said yesterday. While the market will continue to play a "fundamental" role in setting the value of the yuan, the exchange rate will be maintained "basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level," the People's Bank of China said in a statement summarizes conclusions reached at the bank's third quarterly monetary policy meeting. The bank said it will keep draining funds from the financial system as it seeks to improve the yuan's managed float.
■ Finance
Amaranth says funds down
Amaranth Advisors LLC said that losses at its two main hedge funds continued in the past 10 days and they're now down as much as 70 percent from last month. The firm suspended redemptions scheduled for Sept. 30 and Oct. 31, preventing investors from withdrawing any money until at least the end of next month. "This temporary suspension of redemptions will enable the Amaranth funds to generate liquidity for investors in an orderly fashion," founder Nicholas Maounis said in a letter to investors Friday.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) halted shipments to a customer this month after its semiconductors were sent to China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為), potentially breaching US sanctions, a government official said. The US slapped sanctions on Huawei in 2019, and expanded them the following year, over fears its technology could be used for Beijing’s espionage operations. The restrictions prevent TSMC from selling semiconductors to Huawei. However, TSMC discovered on Oct. 11 that chips made for a “specific customer” had ended up with the Chinese company, a Taiwanese official with knowledge of the incident said on the condition of anonymity. TSMC “immediately activated
US SANCTIONS: The Taiwan tech giant has ended all shipments to China-based Sophgo Technologies after one of their chips was discovered in a Huawei phone Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) suspended shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo Technologies Ltd (算能科技) after a chip it made was found on a Huawei Technologies Co (華為) artificial intelligence (AI) processor, according to two people familiar with the matter. Sophgo had ordered chips from TSMC that matched the one found on Huawei’s Ascend 910B, the people said. Huawei is restricted from buying the technology to protect US national security. Reuters could not determine how the chip ended up on the Huawei product. Sophgo said in a statement on its Web site yesterday that it was in compliance with all laws
TECH TITANS: Nvidia briefly overtook Apple again on Friday after becoming the world’s largest company for a short period in June, as Microsoft fell to third place Nvidia Corp dethroned Apple Inc as the world’s most valuable company on Friday following a record-setting rally in the stock, powered by insatiable demand for its specialized artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Nvidia’s stock market value briefly touched US$3.53 trillion, slightly above Apple’s US$3.52 trillion, London Stock Exchange Group data showed. Nvidia ended the day up 0.8 percent, with a market value of US$3.47 trillion, while Apple’s shares rose 0.4 percent, valuing the iPhone maker at US$3.52 trillion. In June, Nvidia briefly became the world’s most valuable company before it was overtaken by Microsoft Corp and Apple. The tech trio’s market capitalizations have been
Shares of Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) surged more than 53 percent on its debut on the Taiwan stock exchange yesterday. Starlux shares closed up 53.75 percent at NT$30.75 from its initial public offering price of NT$20 after retreating in late trading from a 60 percent rise. China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) rose 0.90 percent to close at NT$22.35, while EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) gained 0.40 percent to close at NT$37.70. In Taiwan, a newly listed stock is allowed to go beyond the 10 percent maximum increase or decline in its first five trading sessions. At the listing ceremony, Starlux chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) said
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