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☆ EV maker Nio to build 1,000 battery-swap stations in China in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHANGHAI, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle (EV) startup Nio Inc (9866.HK) plans to build 1,000 battery-swapping stations in China in 2023 to bring the total number of such facilities to 2,300 by year-end, its Founder and Chairman William Li said on Tuesday. The move marks an expansion of its plan in December of adding 400 such stations this year. Li found more of them are needed to improve user experience after his trips to northeastern China and lower-tier cities in Zhejiang, he added. Battery swapping allows drivers to replace depleted packs quickly with fully charged ones, rather than plugging the vehicle into a charging point. Nio is among the few EV makers that are betting on battery swapping as one of the major power solutions for electric cars.

BENGALURU, India, Feb 21 (Reuters) - G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will discuss debt troubles in developing economies, crypto currencies and global inflationary pressures at a meeting later this week, Indian officials said on Tuesday. The Feb. 22-25 meeting in the Nandi Hills summer retreat near Bengaluru is the first major event of India's G20 presidency. The meeting straddles the Feb. 24 anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the war is likely to be high on the agenda. Reuters reported last week that India is drafting a proposal for G20 countries to help debtor nations by asking lenders, including China, the world's largest sovereign creditor, to take a large haircut on loans. "So the discussions would be aimed both at handling them before they arise and after they arise as well."

☆ Winter storm threatens record snowfall in parts of US
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Waves come to shore along the coastline as a winter storm approaches Oceanside, California, U.S., February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Mike BlakeCHICAGO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - A winter storm spreading across the U.S. West into the Northern Plains and Midwest on Tuesday could produce blizzards, brutal cold, and record snowfall, making roads treacherous and disrupting air travel. The National Weather Service issued winter storm, blizzard and high-wind advisories for large parts of the western and north-central United States. The agency said these areas will also be under a winter storm warning until Friday and advised people against traveling. Although the snow storm could wreak havoc on daily life, it was welcomed by skiers.

☆ China's Nio to build factory for budget EVs - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHANGHAI, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio Inc (9866.HK) plans to build a factory in Chuzhou city in the eastern province of Anhui to produce budget EVs under a new brand, said three people with knowledge of the matter. Neither Nio nor the Chuzhou local government immediately responded to requests for comment. Nio's main brand, Nio, is positioned for the premium car segment to compete with brands such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz in China and Europe. More than a quarter of the new cars sold in January in China were either pure electric or plug-in hybrids, according to China Passenger Car Association. Reporting by Zhang Yan, Zhuzhu Cui and Brenda Goh; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Feb 17 (Reuters) - Chinese dealmaker Bao Fan, founder of investment bank China Renaissance Holdings Ltd (1911.HK), has gone missing in the latest disappearance of a top business executive, unnerving investors and sending its stock down as much as 50% on Friday. A China Renaissance spokesperson referred Reuters request for comment on Friday to the investment bank's public filing. The firm earned $20.6 million in Chinese related investment banking fees in 2022, down from $43.13 million a year earlier, the data showed. Bao started China Renaissance in 2005 as a two-person team, seeking to match capital-hungry startups with venture capitalist and private equity investors. China Renaissance is also an active investor in the tech sector.

☆ Analysis: Bed Bath's novel deal is no universal dodge-bankruptcy card
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Shankar Ramakrishnan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

It's unclear whether Bed Bath can capitalize on the breathing room to turn around its business, which has been battered by competition from other online and brick-and-mortar retailers. A spokesperson for Hudson's Bay declined to comment, while Bed Bath & Beyond did not respond to requests for comment. To secure the Hudson's Bay investment, Bed Bath offered a deal that guarantees the hedge fund a lucrative return in most circumstances. It is not clear how much of the stock Hudson's Bay has converted and sold since it inked the deal with Bed Bath on Feb. 6. The deal is very dilutive for other Bed Bath investors, who will end up owning 80% less if the company survives.

☆ China's Lenovo Q3 revenue tumbles 24% as PC demand slumps
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HONG KONG, Feb 17 (Reuters) - China's Lenovo Group Ltd (0992.HK) reported a 24% revenue decline for the third quarter, its second consecutive decline as global demand for computers and smartphones continued to slump. The world's largest maker of personal computers (PCs) said on Friday that total revenue during the October-December quarter was $15.3 billion, down 24% from the same quarter a year earlier. However, demand has begun to fall and Lenovo's revenue started contracting in the July-September quarter last year. Net income attributable to shareholders for the October-December quarter also plunged 32% to $437 million. PC shipments are likely to slide 6.8% this year after falling 16% in 2022, Gartner said.

SYDNEY, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Shares of boutique investment bank China Renaissance Holdings Ltd (1911.HK) fell by as much as 50% on Friday after the firm said it had been unable to contact Chairman and Chief Executive Bao Fan. China Renaissance shares slid by 50% in early trade to hit a record low of HK$5 each. He started China Renaissance in 2005 and the exchange filing showed he is its controlling shareholder. China Renaissance was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2018 after it raised $346 million. China Renaissance is also an active investor in the tech sector.

☆ VR firm Pico, owned by Chinese TikTok maker ByteDance, announces 'small' layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HONG KONG, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Pico, a virtual reality (VR) headset manufacturer owned by TikTok's Chinese developer ByteDance, said on Friday it was laying off a small number of people, after local media reported the start of hundreds of redundancies earlier this week. The South China Morning Post reported unidentified sources on Thursday as saying Pico had trimmed some teams by as much as 30%. "We greatly appreciate these colleagues' contributions and are working closely with those impacted to support them through this time of change." The layoffs mark the latest streamlining for ByteDance, which like many tech peers in China has cut jobs since last year and undergone restructuring as economic growth slows. On Thursday, Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) said it was making some personnel adjustments after local media reported the Chinese gaming and social media major was laying off staff in its recently formed "extended reality" (XR) business.

TOUGH TASK AHEADStanChart, which makes most of its profit in Asia, reported statutory pretax profit of $4.3 billion for 2022. That came below the $4.73 billion average of analyst forecasts compiled by the bank but beat the $3.35 billion it made in 2021. On Wednesday, Barclays (BARC.L) reported a 14% fall in full-year pretax profit as earnings were pole-axed by surging costs and a collapse in deal fees, among other factors. StanChart's financial markets trading business reported record income, up 21%, as accelerating inflation and Russia's invasion of Ukraine made for volatile markets, driving frenzied activity by institutional clients throughout 2022. StanChart also took a $308 million hit on its investment in China Bohai Bank (9668.HK), which it attributed to "industry challenges".

☆ Taiwan finds crashed weather balloon on remote island, likely Chinese
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

TAIPEI, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Taiwan's military said on Thursday it had found the remains of a probable crashed weather balloon likely from China on a remote and strategically located island near the Chinese coast, amid a dispute between China and the United States over spy balloons. 1 Factory Co., Ltd.", "GTS13 digital datmospheric sounding instrument" and "meteorological instrument", the army said. Speaking to reporters at parliament on Friday morning, Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said the ministry has dispatched a team to investigate the crashed balloon. Dongyin sits at the top of the Taiwan Strait on an important passage for any southbound Chinese forces from the eastern province of Zhejiang if they attack Taiwan, and the island is well defended. China also deployed drones close to Taiwan-controlled islands near the Chinese coast last August when Beijing staged war games near Taiwan, which only ended after Taiwanese forces shot one down.

☆ PayPal tells Australia it supports buy-now-pay-later regulation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Payments giant PayPal Holdings Inc (PYPL.O) wants buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) loans subjected to consumer protection law, it said in a submission to the Australian government, adding a powerful voice from inside the sector calling for regulation. Many other companies which sell BNPL loans said in submissions that they supported minimal or self-regulation. BNPL companies attract shoppers by charging no interest and make money from retailer fees. The company saw "merit in further consideration of the development of a bespoke BNPL credit reporting framework" without the full "costs typically associated with engaging in the credit reporting regime". The government has said it wants BNPL regulation in place in 2023.

However, there are opportunities for Russian products to flow into both China, the world's biggest crude importer, and India, the second-biggest oil importer in Asia. Imports of Russian fuel oil by China, India and Saudi/UAESAUDI, EMIRATESThe other region that offers scope for Russian products is the Middle East, where the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia have been increasing imports. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE can utilise Russian fuel oil to displace crude in direct-burning for power generation. This has the advantage of freeing up higher value domestic crude oil for export or for processing in refineries for export as fuels. In February 2022 the UAE exported 5.47 million barrels of diesel, but only 1.91 million barrels went to Europe, with Asian countries taking 900,000 barrels and African nations 1.82 million barrels.

☆ Elon Musk says end-2023 'good timing' to find new Twitter head
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Yousef Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Twitter Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday that towards the end of 2023 would be "good timing" to find someone else to run Twitter, when he expects the social media platform to be stable. On Dec. 21, Musk said on Twitter that he would resign as its chief executive "as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job!" He added that he would "just run the software & servers teams". Musk ran a poll on the social media platform days earlier on whether he should step down as Twitter CEO, in which a majority of respondents said he should. Reporting by Yousef Saba; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Istanbul bourse rises nearly 10% after quake closure, govt measures
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

RAPID NEW REGULATIONSTurkish authorities pushed through new regulations including measures incentivizing company share buyback programs, and increasing obligatory pension fund allocation for stocks. The general assembly decision mandate for share buybacks was also waived, allowing listed companies to start share buyback programmes with just a management board decision. Additional measures could still be needed to stabilize the stock exchange, according to Tunc Satiroglu, strategist and founder of financial consulting firm Kanal Finans. The cancellations followed multiple market-wide circuit brakers in the two trading days following the earthquake, which failed to halt the slide to no avail. "I expect the stock market to be more stable...

☆ TSMC shares fall after Berkshire cuts stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TAIPEI, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Shares in Taiwan's TSMC (2330.TW), opened 3.3% lower on Wednesday after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) slashed its stake in the chipmaker. Berkshire cut its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) by 86.2% to 8.29 million sponsored American depositary shares, a regulatory filing showed. read moreTSMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reporting by Faith Hung; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australian central bank governor warns against failing to contain inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The head of Australia's central bank on Wednesday warned of dire consequences of not containing inflation, which is running at three-decade highs. Appearing before members of parliament, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe said one risk was that the bank might not have done enough on interest rates. "Raising interest rates has always been unpopular ... but our job is to make sure inflation comes down and hopefully preserve the gains of employment that we have made." It's corrosive, it hurts people, it damages income inequality and it if stays high it leads to higher interest rates and more unemployment." Since the central bank began raising interest rates last year, its policy rate has already risen 325 basis points to a decade high of 3.35%.

☆ Chinese chip trade group opposes export controls from U.S., Netherlands, Japan -statement
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHANGHAI, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The China Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA), China's top trade group for the chip industry, opposes reported export controls from the United States, Japan and the Netherlands on China's chip industry, it said in a statement on Wednesday. The association said the restrictions, should they become a reality, "will cause serious harm to the semiconductor industry in China, with detriment to the global economy, as well as long-term damages to the interests of consumers world-wide." In its statement, CSIA also called on the Chinese government to establish rules "for maintaining the healthy development of the global semiconductor industry ecology." In January, media reports surfaced stating that Japan and the Netherlands had agreed to comply with export restrictions against China's chip sector that the U.S. government originally announced in October 2022. Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ford halts F-150 EV production, deliveries after battery fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] The Lightning logo is seen on the side of an all-new Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck outside the Ford Motor World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, U.S., April 26, 2022. REUTERS/ Rebecca CookWASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) on Wednesday said the suspension of production of its F-150 Lightning electric vehicle (EV) will last until at least the end of next week after a battery fire involving one of the vehicles earlier in the month. The company said it halted production the next day at its assembly plant in Dearborn. The automaker on Tuesday said it had halted production and deliveries, and on Wednesday gave further details. Ford said it will continue to hold "already-produced vehicles while we work through engineering and process updates."

☆ Chinese chipmaker SMIC warns of weak outlook despite record 2022 revenue
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Chinese chip foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) (0981.HK) on Thursday warned of a weak 2023 despite record high sales last year, as slowing demand for electronics placed pressure on its business. Backed by funding from Beijing, SMIC is China's best hope for becoming a global leader in chip manufacturing that can rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC), the industry's largest foundry. SMIC has seen sales surge over the past two years, as global demand for low-end chips rocketed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and a global chip shortage. On Thursday, it said total revenue for 2022 reached $7.23 billion, up 33.6% from 2021. Nonetheless, it is rapidly expanding capacity across China, announcing plans to build four new chip manufacturing plants since 2020.

SYDNEY, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Index provider MSCI said it has cut the free-float designations of four securities of India's Adani group, a move which analysts have warned could impact their index weightings. MSCI said in a statement it has reduced the free floats of Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS), Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS) and ACC (ACC.NS). The remaining companies' free floats will remain the same. The four companies for which the free float designation change was announced had a combined 0.4% weighting in the MSCI emerging markets index as of Jan. 30. Analysts had said a change in free float status could affect the weightings of MSCI index constituents, possibly triggering a shift by funds as many investments are aligned to such indexes.

☆ Hanwang, bellwether of Chinese ChatGPT frenzy, says big shareholders sold stakes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHANGHAI, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Hanwang Technology Co Ltd (002362.SZ), widely seen as a bellwether of Chinese interest in ChatGPT-concept stocks, on Friday said several major shareholders reduced stakes over the past few days as it flagged risks following a share price surge. Henan Yellow River Computer System Co Ltd, a top 10 shareholder, sold 2.6 million Hanwang Technology shares between Jan. 30 and Feb. 7, the artificial intelligence (AI) developer said in an exchange filing. Tongfang Investment sold 3.4 million shares during the period, while Juneng Capital Management offloaded 1.2 million shares, Hanwang Technology said. Hanwang Technology's shares have surged more than 70% this month amid fever surrounding ChatGPT-related technology. ChatGPT, a chatbot developed by U.S. firm OpenAI and backed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), gives strikingly human-like responses to user queries.

☆ SK Innovation battery unit SK On aims to raise up to $2.4 bln -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Kane Wu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SK On in December raised 2.8 trillion won from SK Innovation and 800 billion won from financial investors including Korea Investment Private Equity. A spokeswoman declined to comment on valuation but said SK On expects an additional 500 billion won from private equity funds this year as part of last year's fundraising. SK Innovation was not immediately available for comment. SK Innovation on Tuesday said it would focus spending on growing SK On this year even as the business was taking longer than it expected to turn a profit. SK On will eventually launch an initial public offering, as per an agreement with financial investors, SK Innovation said in November.

☆ Toyota's Q3 profit jumps 22%, buoyed by weak yen and higher sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Daniel Leussink | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Operating profit for the three months ended Dec. 31 was 956.7 billion yen ($7.28 billion). That beat the average 764.54 billion yen profit estimated by 10 analysts, according to Refinitiv data. In the same period a year earlier, Toyota reported a 784.4 billion yen profit. He will hand over to the leader of Toyota's Lexus luxury brand as the shift to electric vehicles challenges the car giant. It also cut its sales target for battery electric vehicles to 40 from 58, following an embarrassing recall of its first battery electric model, the bz4x, last year due to safety issues.

☆ Toyota's Q3 profit jumps 22% as weak yen helps
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Daniel Leussink | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Operating profit for the three months ended Dec. 31 was 956.7 billion yen ($7.28 billion). That beat the average 764.54 billion yen profit estimated by 10 analysts, according to Refinitiv data. In the same period a year earlier, Toyota reported a 784.4 billion yen profit. While it trimmed its annual production target by about 1%, to around 9.1 million vehicles, it stuck to its forecast for annual profit of 2.4 trillion yen for the year to end-March. The automaker is likely to comfortably exceed that forecast, given that it has now delivered 2.1 trillion yen in the first nine months of the year, said Koji Endo, senior analyst at SBI Securities.

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