19/09/2025

BIZ & FINANCE FRIDAY | SEPT 19, 2025

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Stocks fluctuate after Fed lowers interest rates

New York officials sink Times Square casino bid NEW YORK: A well-financed campaign to build a casino in the heart of New York’s theatre district collapsed on Wednesday as a government-appointed panel voted down the proposal. Opposition to the project was led by community groups who said a casino would lure unsavoury people and theater interests who argued it would cut into Broadway’s business. The Caesars Palace Times Square project, a venture whose sponsors include rap musician and entrepreneur Jay-Z’s company Roc Nation and the real estate firm SL Green, failed to clear a key hurdle at the Community Advisory Committee. The CAC, which is composed of representatives of state and local officials, voted down the proposed US$5.4 billion (RM22.7 billion) project by 4-2. City Council member Erik Bottcher said he voted no after “countless” conversations with constituents. “This is not a decision I took lightly,” Bottcher, who had been considered a swing vote on the proposal, said in an Instagram post. “All economic development opportunities deserve strong consideration. “I believe casinos must clear a particularly high bar, requiring a uniquely strong degree of community buy-in before being sited in a neighbourhood. “Despite extensive outreach by the applicants, that level of support has not materialised.” Bottcher’s statement also pertained to his nay vote on a second proposed Manhattan casino, which also failed in a 4-2 vote, by a CAC with some overlapping membership to the Times Square site. The proposal, called the Avenir and based near the Javits Convention Center, was for a US$7 billion mixed-use casino that included a 1,000-room luxury hotel, a public art complex and more than a dozen restaurants. Wednesday’s vote narrows the field of candidates vying for up to three state gaming licenses to six from eight. CACs for the remaining six sites will vote by Sept 30 in a process that is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. Those chosen will pay at least US$500 million for a license, plus tax payments that will help fortify New York’s fiscal profile at a time when President Donald Trump has pushed through social programme cuts that will hit the state budget. Supporters of the Times Square project included construction unions, neighbouring restaurants and business groups that viewed the casino project as a source of additional customers. The venture promised US$250 million in community investments, including Broadway ticket vouchers for casino customers, funding for tuition and health programmes and millions in public safety and public bathrooms. Casino opponents had described the proposal as a beyond-the-pale solution that preys on seniors and other vulnerable populations, hitting out at Caesars’ largesse as cover for a bad idea. Some warned of a rise in crime, prostitution and child trafficking in the once-seedy neighbourhood, which was home to porn theatres and adult businesses before they were banned in the 1990s. – AFP

o Investors wondering how many more cuts are in pipeline

HONG KONG: Equities wavered in Asia yesterday after the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates but left investors wondering how many more cuts were in the pipeline despite chairman Jerome Powell warning about the struggling jobs market. On the heels of recent economic reports showing weaker job growth, the US central bank said it would lower borrowing costs 25 basis points, its first reduction since December. The 11-1 decision to cut – US President Donald Trump’s appointee Stephen Miran voted for a 50-point cut – came even as inflation runs well above policymakers’ 2% target, but analysts said the main focus was on jobs. The bank’s closely watched forecast for future rates showed some division on the path forward, with a narrow majority of the 19 officials assessing the outlook eyeing two more cuts but seven projecting none. Powell remained cagey, telling

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December).” Jack McIntyre at Brandywine Global, part of Franklin Templeton, said the Fed is “putting more emphasis on the softening in the labour market”. “The weakening labour market will have a deleterious impact on inflation, so the Fed is willing to wait out sticky inflation.” The split in the Fed outlook “probably means more volatility in financial markets next year”, he added. Gold prices held losses around US$3,660, having spiked on Wednesday at a record above US$3,707. In company news, Chinese chip firms surged after the Financial Times reported that China’s internet regulator had instructed firms including Alibaba and ByteDance to terminate orders for Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D chips. The state-of-the-art processors are made especially for China. – AFP been throttled by rivals Apple and Google, and to control its own destiny in wearables.” Smart glasses have seemed on the horizon for more than a decade, when Google’s Glass headset and camera released in 2013 – although it has since been discontinued. Meta has encountered more success with its frames developed alongside Ray-Ban, offering features including a built-in camera, music playback and voice interactions with the company’s AI. The global smart glasses market was estimated at nearly US$2 billion last year and is projected to reach US$8.26 billion annually by the end of the decade, according to analytics firm Grand View Research. “The next computing platform continues to come into focus,” Meta said. “AI glasses connect us to real-world superpowers as we move throughout the day, tapping into a wealth of information while staying present in the moment.” Zuckerberg unveiled new Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses. The smart glasses build on a partnership established in 2019 between between Meta and EssilorLuxottica, the parent company of Ray-Ban and Oakley. Ray-Ban Meta glasses have become the top selling AI glasses in the world, with millions of units sold since launch, according to Meta. Features include built-in cameras for hands-free photos or video, along with being able to call on a digital assistant and real-time language translation. Oakley Meta Vanguard are part of a category of “Performance AI glasses” tailored for use during athletic endeavours, and are priced at US$499. – AFP

reporters decision-makers were approaching it “meeting by meeting”. Michael Pearce of Oxford Economics said the figures showed a “stark divide” that was “unusual” and that the October move could depend on jobs figures. US markets ended on a tepid note, with the Dow up but S&P 500 and Nasdaq down. Asian investors were also cautious. Tokyo closed in the green as the Fed decision boosted the dollar against the yen and other currencies, helping Japanese exporters, while Shanghai retreated by day’s end. Hong Kong’s session ended in the red as well. Seoul closed at a record high, fuelled by a tech stock surge led by Samsung Electronics and

chipmaker SK hynix, which soared nearly 6%, following reports that China banned its tech firms from purchasing Nvidia chips. Taipei and Manila rose, while there were losses in Sydney, Wellington, Singapore and Jakarta. London, Paris and Frankfurt were up. “The selloff in rates markets after the presser suggests that investors were looking for Powell to lean more decisively toward the employment mandate,” said economists at Bank of America. “We stick with our view that the Fed will cut only once more this year, in December. “However, after Powell’s comment that (the) rate cut ‘isn’t just one action,’ the risk has risen that the second cut will be pulled forward to October (with

Meta expands AI glasses line in bet on the future MENLO PARK: Meta showed off new smart glasses on Wednesday as it continued to bank on a lifestyle shift toward blending reality and virtual space despite the efforts inflicting heavy financial losses. “Our goal is to build great-looking glasses that deliver personal superintelligence and a feeling of presence using realistic holograms,” Meta chief executive Mark Meta in late 2021 to reflect the strategy change. But Reality Labs – Meta’s virtual and augmented reality unit – has consistently posted big losses.

The unit lost US$4.5 billion in the second quarter of this year on revenue of just US$370 million, highlighting ongoing challenges in the metaverse business. “There’s no realistic chance that smart glasses sales make this division profitable in the short term,” CCS Insight principal analyst Leo Gebbie said of Reality Labs while at the Meta event. “Instead, this is about playing the long-term game to break free from smartphones, where Meta has

Zuckerberg said as he showed off new AI glasses at the tech firm’s annual developers conference. “These ideas combined are what we call the metaverse.” He has predicted that AI-infused smart glasses will be the “next major computing platform”, eventually replacing the smartphone. The tech titan began investing heavily in virtual reality and the metaverse about four years ago, with Zuckerberg changing the company’s name from Facebook to

Announcements included the debut of Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses that have built-in screens that allow wearers to see messages, photos and more as though looking at a smartphone screen. Billed as Meta’s most advanced AI glasses, Ray-Ban Display comes with sensor-packed bracelets called neural bands that let people control the eyewear with subtle finger movements, and are priced at US$799.

Zuckerberg delivering a speech as he presents the new line of smart glasses at Meta headquarters in Menlo Park, California. – REUTERSPIC