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☆ Saudi investment in Iran could happen 'very quickly' after agreement - minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Rachna Uppal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

RIYADH, March 15 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's finance minister, Mohammed al-Jadaan, said on Wednesday that Saudi investments into Iran could happen "very quickly" following an agreement. "There are a lot of opportunities for Saudi investments in Iran. Tehran and Riyadh agreed to resume diplomatic relations and re-open embassies within two months, according to a statement issued by Iran, Saudi Arabia and China, which brokered the deal. "To focus on your economic development and focus on providing for the people in your country, you need stability, and they (Iran) need both," al-Jadaan said in Riyadh. He said there are a lot of opportunities in Iran and that Saudi Arabia also provides a lot of opportunities for them.

March 14 (Reuters) - The special prosecutor handling the case against actor Alec Baldwin in the 2021 "Rust" movie set shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins announced on Tuesday she is stepping down, as Baldwin's lawyers had sought. The decision by special prosecutor Andrea Reeb came a month after Baldwin's attorney filed a motion to remove her because she is also a representative in the state legislature. The Baldwin team argued it violates the state constitution for a legislator to serve in another branch of government. "I will not allow questions about my serving as a legislator and prosecutor to cloud the real issue at hand." Gutierrez-Reed has blamed the shooting on potential sabotage, Baldwin's lack of firearms training, and a failure by Halls and Baldwin to call her onto set for extra firearm checks.

☆ China's BYD denies media report on Tesla ending battery supply cooperation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SHANGHAI, March 14 (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle and battery maker BYD Co Ltd (002594.SZ), on Tuesday said a media report saying U.S. peer Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) is ending cooperation on battery supplies is false. The Korean Economic Daily on Sunday cited industry sources as saying Tesla had not ask BYD for an additional supply of batteries for certain Tesla Model 3 vehicles after their supply deal expired earlier this year. The report "is not in line with the actual situation", BYD said in a statement to Reuters. Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ SAP agrees to sell Qualtrics stake for $7.7 bln
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, March 13 (Reuters) - Software group SAP (SAPG.DE) said on Monday it had agreed to sell its stake in data analytics firm Qualtrics (XM.O) for $7.7 billion as part of the acquisition of Qualtrics by funds affiliated with financial investor Silver Lake. "At a purchase price of US$18.15 in cash per share, the transaction corresponds to a Qualtrics equity value of approximately US$12.5 billion on a fully diluted basis," SAP said in a statement. "SAP's stake will be acquired for approximately US$7.7 billion," it added. Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Goldman analysts no longer expect Fed rate hike in March after SVB failure
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 12 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs' analysts on Sunday said they no longer expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to deliver a rate hike at its March 22 meeting with considerable uncertainty about the path beyond March, in light of the recent stress in the banking sector. Goldman previously expected a 25-basis-point hike in March. The Federal Reserve also made it easier for banks to borrow from it in emergencies. Goldman analysts said they expected the measures taken by the regulators to provide substantial liquidity to banks facing deposit outflows and to improve confidence among depositors. Goldman left unchanged its expectations for 25-basis-point hikes in May, June, and July, but said it saw considerable uncertainty about the rate hike path beyond March.

☆ China to resume issuing visas for foreigners starting March 15
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 13 (Reuters) - China will begin re-issuing various categories of visas to foreigners from March 15, the Chinese Embassy in the United States said on Monday, as the country continues to re-open its borders after three years of COVID-19 containment measures. In a statement, the embassy said China will also lift visa restrictions for various locations, including Hainan Island and cruise ships passing through Shanghai port. Visa-free entry to Guangdong for foreigners from Hong Kong and Macao will also be resumed, the embassy said. China, which dismantled its zero-COVID-19 policy in December and opened its borders a month later, has seen a sharp increase in travel over the past two months. The country's leaders had signalled victory over a recent COVID-19 surge that gripped the country for months.

☆ North Korea fires two short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Soo-Hyang Choi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, March 14 (Reuters) - North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, the latest in a series of weapons tests as the South and the United States conduct their largest joint military drills in years. The missiles were fired at around 7:40 a.m. (2240 GMT on Monday) from the South Hwanghae province, near the country's west coast, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. The South Korean military was on high alert and maintaining full readiness posture under close coordination with the United States, the JCS added in a statement. North Korea has long bristled at the allies' drills as a rehearsal for invasion. On Sunday, North Korean state media KCNA reported the country has decided to take "important practical" war deterrence measures, saying, "War provocations of the U.S. and South Korea are reaching the red-line."

☆ Exclusive: Shenzhen bourse taps intelligence tech firm as China battles capital market fraud
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Shenzhen Stock Exchange did not respond to Reuters' request for comment. EC Guard declined to be interviewed. The United States in 2019 placed EC Guard on its so-called entity list of companies that are subject to U.S. trade restrictions for reasons such as national security. Using that technology, EC Guard can identify relationships between users helping regulators identify potential illegal activity and also trace a company's ultimate shareholders to ensure they are legitimate owners, the person said. The Shanghai Stock Exchange, the country's largest bourse, stepped up its fight against fraud in December with a new generation of systems that supervise securities trading.

☆ Morning Bid: Jumpy around jobs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Vidya RanganathanFed Chairman Jerome Powell has made sure there is heightened focus on today's U.S. payrolls data. In his speech to Congress, Powell curiously mentioned this data point as one among a couple of indicators framing the Fed's thinking around how far and fast interest rates need to rise. The nail-biting around payrolls has meant investors barely reacted to other unsurprising but orchestrated developments in Asia. Haruhiko Kuroda concluded his last policy meeting as Bank of Japan governor, leaving Japan's ultra-low interest rates and controversial bond yield control policy an issue for successor Kazuo Ueda to tackle. Reuters GraphicsKey developments that could influence markets on Friday:U.S. February payrollsU.K. January industrial productionReporting by Vidya Ranganathan; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Morning Bid: Is China exporting deflation?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Relief wasn't immediate, as the figures were tinged by doubt on the robustness of China's consumption rebound, with inflation in the country also at its slowest in a year. That's likely welcomed since analysts are making their latest upward revisions to U.S. and European interest rate expectations and do not need another inflationary shock from China's reopening. European futures steadied in Asia as markets assumed a holding pattern with the focus on U.S. data as the driver of interest rate movement. The Bank of Japan concludes a two-day meeting on Friday, though it is increasingly dancing to its own beat. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3%; Japanese stocks rose 0.6% on Thursday.

☆ Nissan to overhaul electric powertrains for EVs, hybrids in search of cost cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The Japanese automaker said it will use the same components across models to make electric powertrains - the assembly which propels a vehicle - smaller and lighter, and reduce development and production costs by 30% within three years versus 2019. "Materials that don't use such expensive precious metals are being developed, which will be a major factor in reducing costs," Hirai said. The effort is among many by automakers trying to make new-energy vehicles more affordable, such as by reducing the cost of electric powertrains which have yet to achieve parity with those used in traditionally powered vehicles. Nissan will apply its streamlined approach to powertrains to different sizes of vehicles, expecting to equip such vehicles as micro "kei" and mid-sized cars from 2024 or 2025, Hirai said. Nissan became one of the first mass-market electric-vehicle makers with its Leaf model more than a decade ago.

It was not clear what new support China, the world's biggest sovereign creditor, had extended to Sri Lanka on Monday. By end-2020, Sri Lanka owed the Export-Import Bank of China $2.83 billion or 3.5% of the island's external debt, according to IMF data. Sri Lanka needs to repay about $6 billion on average each year until 2029 and will have to keep engaging with the IMF, Wickremesinghe said. Countries in debt distress such as Zambia and Sri Lanka have faced unprecedented delays in securing IMF bailouts as China and Western economies have clashed over how to provide debt relief. Sri Lanka has been waiting for about 187 days to finalise a bailout after reaching a staff-level deal with the IMF.

☆ Lindt & Spruengli proposes dividend hike as 2022 profit climb
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ZURICH, March 7 (Reuters) - Lindt & Spruengli (LISN.S) said its 2022 profit rose and the Swiss chocolate maker also proposed a higher dividend payout on Tuesday, despite a challenging year that saw inflationary price hikes dampen consumer sentiment in key markets. Net income rose to 569.7 million Swiss francs ($612.78 million), beating the 566 million francs forecast by analysts at Zuercher Kantonalbank. It proposed a dividend of 1,300 francs per registered share, up from the 1,200 francs last year. Chocolate Gold Bunnys are seen during the annual news conference of Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Spruengli in Kilchberg, Switzerland March 8, 2022. With cost pressures continuing to pose a challenge, Lindt said it is likely to do the same this year.

☆ Sri Lanka expects approval of $2.9 billion IMF deal after China support
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Uditha Jayasinghe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Sri Lanka has completed all prior actions that were required by the IMF," Wickremesinghe said. It was not clear what new support China, the world's biggest sovereign creditor, extended to Sri Lanka on Monday. By end-2020, Sri Lanka owed the Export-Import Bank of China $2.83 billion or 3.5% of the island's external debt, according to IMF data. Sri Lanka needs to repay about $6 billion on average each year until 2029 and will have to keep engaging with the IMF, Wickremesinghe said. Sri Lanka has been waiting for about 187 days to finalise a bailout after reaching a staff-level deal with the IMF.

☆ HSBC China says it's unaware of remittance curbs after Mobius' claims
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HSBC China made the statement in response to Reuters' questions regarding Mark Mobius' claims that he could not remit his money out of China from his account with HSBC in Shanghai due to China's capital controls. Mobius, founder of Mobius Capital Partners, told FOX Business last week that he faced all kinds of barriers in the process, including requirements to show records from 20 years of how he made the money. HSBC China declined to comment on individual client circumstances but said: "As common practices in many countries commercial banks conduct businesses under operational procedures and control requirements for processing transactions appropriately." The Chinese forex regulator added it will urge commercial banks to optimise cross-border financial services and improve quality of service. Reporting by Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Sam HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Japan's new rocket fails after engine issue, in blow to space ambitions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Tim Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] An H3 rocket carrying a land observation satellite lifts off from the launching pad at Tanegashima Space Center on the southwestern island of Tanegashima, Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan March 7, 2023, in this photo taken by Kyodo. The 57-metre (187 ft) tall H3 rocket lifted off without a hitch from the Tanegashima space port, a live-streamed broadcast by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) showed. But upon reaching space, the rocket's second-stage engine failed to ignite, forcing mission officials to manually destroy the vehicle. "This will have a serious impact on Japan's future space policy, space business and technological competitiveness," he added. A successful launch on Tuesday would have put the Japanese rocket into space ahead of the planned launch later this year of the European Space Agency's new lower-cost Ariane 6 vehicle.

☆ China says must advance relations with Russia as world becomes more turbulent
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, March 7 (Reuters) - China must advance its relations with Russia as the world becomes more turbulent, Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters at an annual parliamentary session in Beijing, Qin said the close interactions between both leaders - President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin - provided the anchor for China-Russia relations. He did not give a definite answer when asked if Xi would visit Russia after China's parliament session, which goes on for one more week. Asked whether it is possible that China and Russia would abandon the U.S. dollar and euro for bilateral trade, Qin said that countries should use whatever currency is efficient, safe and credible. China, which has refused to name Russia as the aggressor in the Ukraine conflict, has often criticised the United States for bullying other countries with unilateral sanctions.

☆ Sri Lanka says 'positive news' coming from IMF on $2.9 bln package
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Uditha Jayasinghe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

COLOMBO, March 7 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka is on the verge of getting "very positive news" from the International Monetary Fund on a $2.9 billion programme, a government minister said on Tuesday, while a senior source said it had also won debt restructuring support from China. The island nation of 22 million is struggling with its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades. "Sri Lanka is on the verge of getting very positive news from the IMF," the junior finance minister, Shehan Semasinghe, told parliament. "The IMF programme is essential for us and Sri Lanka has worked very hard since last September to secure it." A senior Sri Lankan government official said the Export-Import Bank of China had written to the IMF supporting Sri Lanka's debt restructuring programme, which is critical to securing final approval for the loan.

☆ Japan destroys new medium-lift rocket after second-stage engine failure
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Tim Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TOKYO, March 7 (Reuters) - Japan said it had destroyed a new medium-lift rocket it launched toward space on Tuesday after the vehicle's second-stage engine failed to ignite. The 57-metre (187 ft) tall H3 rocket lifted off from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Tanegashima space port, following an aborted launch last month. It was carrying the ALOS-3, a disaster management land observation satellite that is also equipped with an experimental infrared sensor designed to detect North Korean ballistic missile launches. Reporting by Tim Kelly, Maki Shiraki and Rocky Swift; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China says Ukraine crisis driven by 'invisible hand'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, March 7 (Reuters) - The Ukraine crisis seems to be driven by an invisible hand pushing for the protraction and escalation of the conflict, China's foreign minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday. The "invisible hand" is "using the Ukraine crisis to serve certain geopolitical agendas", Qin said on the sidelines of an annual parliament meeting in Beijing, calling for dialogue to begin as soon as possible. Qin also said Beijing has not provided weapons to either side of the Ukraine conflict, amid loud warnings from U.S. officials on unspecified "consequences" for China, should it send lethal aid to Russia. "(China) is not a party to the crisis and has not provided weapons to either side of the conflict. So on what basis is this talk of blame, sanctions and threats against China?

☆ With China's support, Sri Lanka expects nod for $2.9 bln IMF deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Uditha Jayasinghe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Sri Lanka has completed all prior actions that were required by the IMF," Wickremesinghe said. It was not clear what new support China, the world's biggest sovereign creditor, extended to Sri Lanka on Monday. By end-2020, Sri Lanka owed the China EximBank $2.83 billion or 3.5% of the island's external debt, according to IMF data. Sri Lanka needs to repay about $6 billion on average each year until 2029 and will have to keep engaging with the IMF, Wickremesinghe added. Sri Lanka has been waiting for about 187 days to finalise a bailout after reaching a staff-level deal with the IMF.

☆ Factbox: Chinese chipmaking equipment manufacturers filling void left by U.S. export restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Naura's most advanced etching machine supports 55 nm and 28 nm chipmaking technology, well behind the leading edge of chip manufacturing. The firm also makes deposition machines, which apply chemicals and gases to silicon wafers throughout the chipmaking process. It produces machines that can service the 14 nm to 28 nm process nodes of its deposition machines. ADVANCED MICRO-FABRICATION EQUIPMENT INC CHINA (AMEC) (688012.SS)AMEC makes etching equipment used to remove excess material from the surface of silicon wafers. BEIJING E-TOWN SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY CO LTD (BEST)BEST produces degumming equipment used to remove photoresist chemicals during the lithography process.

☆ South Korea proposes to compensate victims of Japan's forced labour through its public foundation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SEOUL, March 6 (Reuters) - South Korea's foreign minister, Park Jin, said on Monday the government plans to compensate victims of Japan's wartime forced labour through its own public foundation, instead of using funds from Japanese companies, in a move aimed at improving soured relations between the two countries. The dispute over colonial-era forced labour has been a source of dispute between the U.S. allies, overshadowing the neighbours' political and trade relations for years. Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SEOUL, March 6 (Reuters) - South Korea will halt a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute process sparked by a complaint against Japan as the two countries discuss Japan's export curbs on high-tech materials to South Korea, the two countries' trade ministries said on Monday. In July 2019, Japan imposed export curbs on materials used in smartphone displays and chips amid a decades-old row with Seoul about South Koreans who said they were forced to work under Japan's 1910-1945 occupation of Korea. As South Korea has proposed its companies would compensate those people, both countries will quickly begin discussions to return export curbs to their pre-July 2019 state, the ministries said on Monday. "The suspension of the WTO dispute resolution process is not really a withdrawal... but a pause," said Kamchan Kang, director-general at Korea's trade ministry. Reporting by Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang; Editing by Kim Coghill and Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: China's chip sector needs more than state money to dull impact of US restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Josh Horwitz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The government has earmarked $140 billion that could include subsidising the purchase of domestically produced chipmaking equipment, Reuters reported in December, likely benefiting manufacturers such as China's sole semiconductor lithography specialist, Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group (SMEE). Just as in the aviation industry, chipmaking equipment manufacturers work closely with clients, offering long-term services including installation, calibration, maintenance and repair of machines that can cost over $100 million each. Another former top staffer at a Chinese chipmaking equipment manufacturer recounted how while working to master the etching procedure for 3D NAND Flash, the company could not perfect a critical element, namely the channel hole, or hole size. The situation could be worsened for Chinese companies should Japan and the Netherlands agree with the United States to also restrict exports of chipmaking equipment to China. "When the sanctions came out, all the American companies followed," an engineer at a Chinese memory chipmaker told Reuters.

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