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The Two International Finance Center, left, and other buildings in Hong Kong in May 2021
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 5, 2024

Chinese move billions into Hong Kong banks, seeking higher yields

Regulators in Beijing have clamped down on high-yielding wealth management products onshore, while sinking real-estate prices have sapped nest eggs across China.
Japan's base pay in April rose 2.3% from a year earlier to drive up nominal wages by 2.1%, but real wages marked a 25th consecutive month of decline as pay growth lagged inflation.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 5, 2024

Japan’s biggest base pay jump since 1994 still leaves doubts

Pay continues to lag inflation, with analysts appearing to latch on to weaker-than-expected growth in cash wages in data that avoids sampling issues.
Toyoaki Nakamura, a member of the policy board at the Bank of Japan, warns of recent weak signs in consumption and slowing global growth that have clouded the outlook for Japan's economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 6, 2024

BOJ's Toyoaki Nakamura warns of risks to 2% inflation goal from 2025

The central bank board's median forecast is for core consumer inflation to hit 1.9% in the fiscal year beginning in April 2025 and in fiscal 2026.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 7, 2024

At Computex, Nvidia billionaire Jensen Huang showcases Taiwan's tech dominance

With this year’s raucous Computex — the world’s biggest computing conference — Taiwan sent a message: If you want AI, you need Taiwan.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group will sell their Toyota shareholdings over an extended period of time lasting a few years, sources said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 7, 2024

Two of Japan's top banks to divest ¥1.3 trillion in Toyota shareholdings

Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui will sell in stages and take advantage of Toyota’s plan to buy back its own shares.
Gold prices change daily, reflecting wider market movements, but start at about 88,000 won ($64) for a 0.5-gram bar.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2024

You can now buy gold bars from vending machines in South Korea

Prices change daily, reflecting wider market movements, but start at about 88,000 won ($64) for a 0.5-gram bar.
Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor, bows during a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 8, 2024

Shareholder votes in focus as big Japan banks sell Toyota shares

The potential exit of key stakeholders may lead to less stability and predictability for boards and management of listed companies across Japan.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 10, 2024

Japan’s jammed AGM season limits shareholder engagement, investors say

Almost 60% of companies will hold meetings this month, with 30% hosting on June 27.
An Nvidia Cop. Quantum-X800 InfiniBand Platform on display in Taipei on June 5. Nvidia was already the world's most valuable semiconductor firm. Now, it's become the first computer-chip company ever to hit $3 trillion in market capitalization.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 10, 2024

Big Tech is driving the S&P rally. Others will have to step up.

Part of the challenge for tech investors is the stocks are already quite expensive.
Only 6% of the Japanese workforce is engaged while a third of the workforce is job hunting or looking out for new opportunities, according to a Gallup report.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2024

Despite its hardworking image, Japan might be No. 1 in quiet quitting

Only 6% of the Japanese workforce is engaged, one of the lowest readings in the world, according to a Gallup report.
A hydrogen storage tank with an under-construction green hydrogen compressor at a liquid fuels facility in Sasolburg, South Africa.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 13, 2024

South Africa’s biggest green-hydrogen project woos Japanese investors

If approved, the plant will use 3,700 megawatts of renewable power generation capacity to split water to produce 1 million tons of hydrogen a year.
The Shein logo on hangers at a pop-up store in Dublin on Nov. 8, 2022
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 13, 2024

Shein steers tough course in pursuit of blockbuster London IPO

Both of the U.K.’s major political parties have met with Shein leaders, according to reports, though neither has come out in support publicly.
Shareholder approval of the $56 billion pay package serves as both an endorsement of Elon Musk's tenure and an acknowledgment that investors do not want to risk Tesla's future.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 14, 2024

Tesla's Musk wins shareholder approval for $56 billion pay package

The approval does not, however, resolve a lawsuit on the pay package in a Delaware court.
The city of Fukuoka. The government plans to draw up guidelines for supporting midsize companies, many of which have headquarters outside big cities and are expected to play key roles in boosting regional economies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 17, 2024

Japan to compile guidelines on supporting midsize firms

The guidelines will specify how support should be provided to such companies based on their management conditions.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 19, 2024

BOJ’s minutes show debate on rate hikes with close eyes on yen

The minutes signal the potential for a BOJ rate hike as early as July even as market speculation for such a move has cooled somewhat.
Most Japanese companies see no need for their government to follow the U.S. in raising tariffs on Chinese imports, a survey has found.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2024

Most Japanese firms see no need to follow U.S. with tariffs on China

U.S. President Joe Biden last month unveiled steep tariff increases on an array of Chinese goods.
Kazuto Oku, CEO of Norinchukin Bank, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on May 22.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2024

Norinchukin sounds warning as higher-for-longer rates inflict losses

Signals from central banks that they are in no rush to cut rates have caught out many investors who'd been betting on more aggressive moves.
SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son says the conglomerate is ready to make its next big move, without fear of whether that’ll be a hit or miss.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2024

After losses, SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son says he's ready for his next big bet

The billionaire has warned that his next big endeavor could be a big hit or a bad flop — but that SoftBank has no choice but to try.
Softbank Group CEO Masayoshi Son speaks during the annual general shareholders' meeting in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 21, 2024

SoftBank’s Son aims to create ‘super’ AI in new investment drive

He envisions a future when Arm Holdings chips support an ecosystem of technology that can collectively cure cancer, clean houses and play with children.
An employee at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The greatest heat-related labor losses are born by outdoor industries such as construction, mining and agriculture.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2024

When hot weather arrives, worker productivity is at risk

Exposure to high temperatures can diminish cognitive performance and have other lingering affects on one's health.
The holding lot of the Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation-Volkswagen joint venture in Shanghai in April 2023. As the European Union moves to impose tariffs on Chinese cars, Germany, with an auto industry deeply enmeshed with China, is stuck in the middle.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2024

Germany hopes to head off a trade war with China

China’s EV exports threaten European automakers, but companies like Volkswagen have extensive operations in China and fear retaliatory actions by Beijing.
Families of those killed in Boeing 737 Max 8 plane crashes hold up pictures of their deceased loved ones as the planemaker's CEO Dave Calhoun testifies before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Investigations Subcommittee hearing on the safety culture at Boeing, on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 18.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2024

U.S. prosecutors recommend DOJ criminally charge Boeing as deadline looms

They concluded the planemaker had violated a settlement related to two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 involving its 737 MAX jet, source say.
A screen tracks Nvidia's stock price movements as a trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 23, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2024

Nvidia sales grow so fast that Wall Street can’t keep up

No one can figure out what the chipmaker’s revenues are actually going to be amid an artificial intelligence boom.
A general shareholders meeting is held at Sompo Holdings in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2024

Japan nonlife insurers apologize to shareholders over scandals

Leaders of three major Japanese nonlife insurers apologized at their respective general shareholders meetings over scandals rocking the industry.
The investigation into the Chinese telcos is the latest effort by Washington to prevent Beijing from exploiting Chinese firms' access to U.S. data to harm U.S. companies, Americans or its national security as part of a deepening tech war between the geopolitical rivals.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 25, 2024

U.S. probing Chinese telcos over internet and cloud risks

Their cloud services and routing of wholesale U.S. internet traffic raise concerns that they could exploit access to American data by providing it to Beijing.
Fast fashion e-commerce company Shein's logo outside its office in Guangzhou, China, on June 11
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 25, 2024

What is at stake for China-founded Shein as EU rule looms

Shein has faced more than 90 lawsuits alleging it plagiarized others’ designs or products.
Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group, speaks during the company's annual general meeting in Tokyo last Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2024

SoftBank to back AI startup Perplexity at $3 billion valuation

SoftBank will invest between $10 million and $20 million in the firm, which aims to use AI to compete with Alphabet’s Google search.
Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani said that the mobile company now has more than 7 million subscribers, and is seeking to hit 10 million subscribers next.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2024

Money-losing Rakuten Mobile rolls out new 700 MHz service

The new offering, which is being introduced incrementally, will improve connectivity, including in densely populated areas, it says.
Toyota has been looking to cash in on stakes in affiliates as it steps up development and production of battery-powered vehicles.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2024

Toyota and affiliates to offload some $1 billion in Aisin shares

Toyota Motor and two affiliates will divest at least 12.5% of supplier Aisin
Tsuyoshi Maruki, president of Strategic Capital, speaks online on Thursday after three of six candidates proposed by the firm for Daidoh's board positions secured a seat.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 28, 2024

Activist fund in Japan wins Daidoh board seats in rare victory

Daidoh's stock has more than tripled since activist fund Strategic Capital built a stake in the firm in November 2022.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years