13/08/2025

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Japan’s Nikkei 225 powers to record high

Norway wealth fund posts US$68b profit for January-June ARENDAL: Norway’s US$2 trillion (RM8.46 trillion) sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, posted a 698 billion Norwegian crowns (US$68.28 billion) profit for the first half of the year, lifted by strong returns among stocks in the financial industry, it said yesterday. The fund’s overall return for the January-June period was 5.7%, which was 0.05 percentage point lower than the return on the fund’s benchmark index. “The result is driven by good returns in the stock market, particularly in the financial sector,” fund CEO Nicolai Tangen said in a statement. The fund, which invests the Norwegian state’s revenues from oil and gas production, is one of the world’s largest investors, owning on average 1.5% of all listed stocks worldwide. It also invests in bonds, real estate and renewable energy projects. The return on equity investments was 6.7% in the first half, while fixed-income returned 3.3%, unlisted real estate 4% and unlisted renewable energy infrastructure 9.4%, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages the fund, said in the statement. Yesterday, the fund announced that it expected to divest from more Israeli companies as part of its ongoing review of investments in the country. NBIM an arm of Norway’s central bank, which held stakes in 61 Israeli companies as of June 30, in recent days divested stakes in 11 firms. – Reuters WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Monday he had a “very interesting” meeting with the chief of US chip maker Intel, just days after calling for his resig nation. Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he met with Lip-Bu Tan along with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent. “The meeting was a very interesting one,” Trump said in the post. “His success and rise is an amazing story.” Trump added that members of his Cabinet are going to spend time with Tan and bring the president “suggestions” next week.“Mr Tan had the honor of meeting with President Trump for a candid and constructive discussion on Intel’s com mitment to strengthening US technology and manufacturing leadership,“ the com pany said in a posted statement. Intel added that it looks “forward to working closely with him and his Administration as we restore this great American company.” – AFP CHINA URGES LOCAL FIRMS NOT TO USE NVIDIA’S H20 CHIPS: BLOOMBERG NEWS BEIJING: Chinese authorities have urged local companies to avoid using Nvidia’s H20 artificial intelligence chips, particularly for government-related purposes, Bloomberg News reported yeterday, citing people familiar with the matter. Authorities have sent notices to a range of firms discouraging the use of the less-advanced semicon ductors, with the guidance taking a parti cularly strong stance against the use of Nvidia’s H20s for any government or national security-related work by state enterprises or private companies, the report said. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Nvidia said in a statement yesterday that the H20 chip is “not a military product or for government infrastructure.” “China has ample supply of domestic chips to meet its needs. It won’t and never has relied on American chips for government operations, just like the US government would not rely on chips from China,“ the statement said. – Reuters TRUMP MEETS WITH INTEL CEO JUST DAYS AFTER DEMANDING HE RESIGN

BR I E F S

TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share gauge powered to an all-time high yesterday, driven by sharp gains for tech companies and renewed optimism over trade with the United States. With financial markets reopening after a holiday in Japan on Monday, the stock benchmark caught up with peaks scaled earlier this year by other major global centres. The Nikkei 225 surged 2.2% to 42,718.172 at the bell, the highest close ever. It touched 42,999.71 earlier in the session, exceeding the previous intraday high of 42,426.77 set on July 11, 2024. In a roller-coaster ride in 2024, the Nikkei exceeded a record that had stood since 1989 during Japan’s bubble economy. Tokyo’s broader Topix gauge has been setting successive record highs since July 24 and also scored a new all-time high yesterday, rising 1.4% to close at 3,066.37. The US Standard & Poor’s 500 and MSCI’s broadest gauge of global equities have been charting new peaks since June. “The Nikkei was not able to hit a record until today because chip-related shares and auto shares dragged on the index,” said Takamasa Ikeda, senior portfolio manager at GCI Asset Management. “The Nikkei could soon peak as technology shares that led Wall Street’s rally have slowed down.” SoftBank Group soared 6.9% to ¥14,825 (RM422.66), a historic high. The stock has catapulted more than 25% in the past five days and got an added boost after Reuters reported that SoftBank was selecting banks for a US listing of its payments app operator PayPay. Semiconductor industry heavyweights Advantest and Lasertec jumped 6.3% and 7.1%, respectively. Global stock markets tumbled after US President Donald Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” announcement of sweeping tariffs on imports from dozens of countries into the US. Shares have since more than recouped those losses as trade concerns abated and excitement over artificial intelligence (AI) companies soared. Uncertainty over tariff levels imposed by the US has weighed on shares in Japan, where exports are a key driver for the economy. The o Markets propelled by tech stocks surge and renewed optimism over trade with the US

A man takes picture of a screen showing the Nikkei share average inside a financial building in Tokyo yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

US IPO activity has gained momentum in a long-awaited rebound, supported by strong tech earnings and signs of progress in trade negotiations that have helped restore investor confidence. The wave of solid market debuts marks a reversal from earlier this year, when uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s tariff policies stalled new listings. PayPay’s ownership is split between a number of SoftBank entities: wireless carrier SoftBank Corp, the Vision Fund investment arm, and internet business LY Corp, which is a joint venture between SoftBank and Naver Corp. – Reuters Separately, Australian shares hit an all-time high yesterday after the country’s central bank cut interest rates for the third time in 2025, while maintaining a measured tone on future easing, prompting markets to push back hopes for the next reduction. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.4% to a record high of 8,880.8 points after the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates by 25 basis points to a two-year low of 3.60% as expected, citing declining underlying inflation and slightly easing labour market conditions. However, the board remained cautious about the economic outlook as uncertainty over growth prospects prevailed. Markets view the rate cut as positive for credit growth and consumer sentiment, with bank loan arrears remaining low by historical standards and minimal concerns over home loan credit quality, making the move a net gain for lenders, said Lochlan Halloway, an equity analyst at Morningstar. – Reuters

PayPay played a role in encouraging Japanese consumers to move away from a long-standing preference for cash by offering rebates on payments through its mobile app. It also offers financial services including banking and credit cards. Reuters reported two years ago that SoftBank was considering a US listing for PayPay, with the conglomerate saying earlier this year it wanted to IPO the business. Should it happen, it will be the first US listing of a SoftBank majority investment since the blockbuster IPO of Arm Holdings. SoftBank took the chip designer public in 2023 at a valuation of US$54.5 billion, which has US on Thursday promised to amend a presidential executive order to remove overlapping tariffs on Japanese goods. “The impact of US tariffs seems not as serious as the market had expected,” said Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of the investment research department at Iwai Cosmo Securities. “There will be more companies which will revise up their outlooks due to the limited impact of the US tariffs. The yen remains weak, which is also positive for Japanese companies.” Foreign money has been flooding into the Japanese market of late, but data from the Tokyo Stock Exchange last week indicated those flows may have peaked. Overseas investors turned net sellers of Japanese stocks and futures for the first time in 16 weeks in the period ending Aug 1. They sold a net ¥342 billion of shares and futures, a sharp reversal from net purchases of ¥1.26 trillion in the previous week.

SoftBank said to have picked banks for PayPay’s US IPO TOKYO: SoftBank has selected investment banks to help organise a potential initial public offering in the United States for its Japanese payments app operator PayPay, according to two people familiar with the matter. SoftBank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Mizuho and Morgan Stanley declined to comment. subsequently increased to today’s market capitalization of more than US$145 billion.

The banks leading preparations for the listing are Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Mizuho Financial Group and Morgan Stanley, the sources said. The PayPay offering may raise more than US$2 billion (RM8.46 billion) from investors when it takes place, which the sources said could be as soon as the final quarter of this year. The sources declined to be named as the information is not public and cautioned that factors including timing and the amount the IPO could raise are subject to market conditions.

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