23/01/2026

BIZ & FINANCE FRIDAY | JAN 23, 2026

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Stocks rally as Trump cools tariff threats in Davos

Indian startups call for tax certainty after court ruling spooks investors NEW DELHI: A group representing 60 Indian startups has urged New Delhi to clarify it would not use a landmark Supreme Court decision on tax evasion to scrutinise old investments, revealing growing concern over a case that has spooked global investors. India’s top court ruled last week that Mauritius-based entities used by Tiger Global to sell its US$1.6 billion stake in Flipkart to Walmart in 2018 were “conduits” to evade taxes under the India-Mauritius treaty. Tiger Global has denied wrongdoing, saying it correctly used available tax benefits under the treaty. The decision upended years of aggressive tax planning by investors to route funds into India via the tax haven of Mauritius. The ruling has sparked concern among global investors because the court also said domestic tax-evasion law could override treaty benefits claimed wrongly. The ruling “risks sending mixed signals to foreign investors and may have longer-term implications for India’s startup ecosystem”, Shweta Rajpal Kohli, CEO of Startup Policy Forum, said in a letter to the Finance Ministry dated Jan 20. The startup group has asked the government to reassure global investors of a stable investment environment, asking it to issue a clarification that pre-2017 investments would not face taxes, in line with a commitment made in 2017 when the India-Mauritius treaty was last updated. The startup group, whose members include e-commerce firm Meesho, insurer Acko and food delivery platform Swiggy , did not respond to a request for comment. Additional Solicitor General of India N. Venkataraman on Friday dismissed the concerns, saying“the fast-spreading rumor that Tiger Global will have an impact on investment is nothing but a distraction”. Indian government data shows that in the 23 years to 2023, foreign investment inflows from Mauritius were the largest at US$171 billion – a quarter of all the investment inflows in that period. – Reuters

Crucially, that reduction included the auto sector, an industry that accounted for 30% of Japanese exports to the United States in 2024. However, Tokyo officials and business leaders have said the 15% tariffs are still high compared with the period before the second Donald Trump administration. Japan’s overall trade account logged a deficit of ¥2.65 trillion in 2025, its fifth consecutive deficit. – AFP rounds over this matter can be put to bed,” he added. Observers said there had been a pick-up in optimism among investors about the “Trump put” in which big losses in stocks would force the president to change course. The advances in Asia were led by tech-heavy markets Tokyo, Taipei and Seoul, with the latter topping 5,000 points for the first time as chip companies enjoyed bumper gains. The surge came after Nvidia boss Jensen Huang told the WEF that the infrastructure to develop and power generative artificial intelligence models will require much more cash. He told delegates that today’s AI boom “has started the largest infrastructure buildout in human history”. “We’re now a few hundred billion dollars into it ... there are trillions of dollars of infrastructure that needs to be built out” in fields including energy, cloud computing and electronics. South Korean chip leaders Samsung and SK hynix gained around 2%, while in Japan tech investment giant SoftBank piled on more than 11%, with chip firms Advantest 5% higher and Tokyo Electron up more than 3%. Japanese precision tools maker Disco Corporation is trading up 17% in Tokyo after stronger-than-expected earnings. TSMC was up more than 1% in Taipei. – AFP

o AI trade roars back after Nvidia CEO sees ‘largest infrastructure buildout in history’

HONG KONG: Stocks rose yesterday while safe-haven precious metals extended losses after Donald Trump rowed back on his threat to hit key European countries with tariffs over their opposition to a US takeover of Greenland. The gains were also fuelled by a surge in regional tech giants as the artificial intelligence trade roared back into the spotlight after the head of Nvidia said the sector needed “trillions of dollars” more investment. Markets have been whipped by volatility this week after the US president said at the weekend he would hammer several nations – including Germany, France, Britain and Denmark – with levies for their pushback against his grab for the North Atlantic island. The threat sparked a warning of retaliation, with French President Emmanuel Macron raising the possibility of deploying an unused, powerful instrument aimed at deterring economic coercion, fanning fears of a trade war between the economic giants. But traders breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday when the US president told the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that he would not take the Danish autonomous territory by force – as he had hinted – and

later said he had retracted his tariff threat. “We have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social, without providing details. “Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st.” The news fuelled a rally of more than 1% in US stocks, which had tanked on Tuesday on their return from a long weekend. Asia followed suit, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai, Taipei and Manila all up. Paris and Frankfurt jumped more than 1% at the open, while London was also sharply higher. Gold and silver, which have hit multiple records this week on a push into safe havens by worried traders, both fell on Wednesday and extended their retreat in Asia. Pepperstone’s Michael Brown wrote that “the threat of 10% tariffs on various European nations has been unwound (and) the tail risk of a tit-for-tat tariff war has been eliminated”. “Participants can move on, and finally the hysteria and hyperbole that was doing the

Japan’s exports to America fall as levies bite TOKYO: Japan’s exports to the United States dropped 11.1% in December and slipped more than 4% last year, official figures showed yesterday, as tariffs bite. petroleum gas, cereals and power-generating machines, were primary factors in Tokyo’s shrinking trade surplus with Washington, according to the data. In December, Tokyo’s exports to Washington fell 11.1% to ¥1.81 trillion. The trade surplus shrinked 31.7% to ¥690.6 billion. In 2025, Japan’s exports to the United States fell 4.1%, contributing to a 12.6% decline in Tokyo’s trade surplus with Washington to ¥7.5 trillion (RM190 billion), Finance Ministry data showed. A drop in the number of cars and auto parts exported, as well as rise in imports of liquified In July, Tokyo and Washington announced a trade deal lowering tariffs to 15% from a feared 25%.

Hyundai Motor union issues warning over humanoid robots plan SEOUL: Hyundai Motor’s labour union in South Korea warned the automaker yesterday against

and that it planned to deploy humanoid robots at its US plant in Georgia starting in 2028, with a goal to expand adoption across all production sites. The union accused Hyundai of seeking to boost profits by deploying robots to reduce workforce. Hyundai Motor did not immediately comment. The union also criticised the automaker for its efforts to shift production to the United States, saying that Hyundai’s new factory in Georgia was already hurting domestic production and threatening job security at two of its factories in Korea. Last year, Hyundai Motor, which together with affiliate Kia Corp is the world’s third-biggest automaker by sales, said its Georgia factory will reach annual production capacity of 500,000 vehicles by 2028 as it navigates US tariffs. – Reuters

deploying humanoid robots without union approval, saying the robots would bring “employment shocks”. Hyundai’s plan to deploy humanoid robots starting in 2028 has sent its shares rallying to record highs, but it was not welcome news for workers, the union said in an internal letter reviewed by Reuters. “Remember that without labour–management agreement, not a single robot using new technology will be allowed to enter the workplace,” the union said. Hyundai Motor Group unveiled the production version of the Atlas humanoid robot, developed by its unit Boston Dynamics, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas early this month. It said that it aimed to build a factory capable of manufacturing 30,000 robot units annually by 2028

Atlas robots are displayed in the Hyundai Motor booth during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. – REUTERSPIC