05/02/2026

BIZ & FINANCE THURSDAY | FEB 5, 2026

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BYD designing new model for India: Official DUBAI: China’s BYD, the world’s top electric car-maker, is preparing a new model for India as it looks to continue its rapid growth overseas, executive vice-president Stella Li said on Tuesday. Engineers at BYD’s headquarters in Shenzhen, southern China, are working on the design, she said, although the launch date remains unclear. “India is a market for us but we need to put more effort,” Li said at the World Governments Summit in Dubai. BYD, which began life as a battery company, sold 2.26 million electric vehicles last year, overtaking Elon Musk’s Tesla as the world’s top manufacturer. The Chinese firm now plans to “introduce a different model fitted for India”, Li said, without giving further details. “My team is working on that, but there is still some work to do,” she said. She denied a report that BYD is planning a car assembly plant in India. BYD is now eyeing a“minimum target” of 24% overseas growth this year, equating to 1.3 million vehicles, including hybrid models. Domestic sales have dropped since an adjustment in government subsidies for electric vehicles, with January’s figures down for the fifth straight month. BYD is focusing on “every market except the US”, where Chinese imports are subject to hefty tariffs, Li said. – AFP Boeing eyes booming Southeast Asian skies SINGAPORE: Southeast Asia offered the biggest growth potential for global air travel, Boeing said yesterday as it forecast demand for almost 5,000 new aircraft in the region over the next 20 years. The region, which has trailed other parts of the world in recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on aviation, is now catching up fast as travel rebounds and new opportunities emerge, said the firm’s vice president of commercial marketing Darren Hulst. “This is a growth market and Southeast Asia actually leads the world in terms of regional growth potential,” he told a briefing during the Singapore Airshow. “A growing middle class and strong tourism demand are driving this rise in air travel across the region’s domestic and international routes,” he told journalists. To support the expected fleet growth of 4,885 new planes, Southeast Asia’s aviation industry is expected to need 243,000 new professionals, including 62,000 pilots, 103,000 cabin crew and 78,000 new technicians, Hulst added. Southeast Asia is a vast region where air connections play a vital role, particularly in archipelagic nations such as Indonesia. Regionally “air travel continues to be the most efficient way to connect people and places”, Hulst said. Boeing on Tuesday signed a deal with Air Cambodia for 10 “narrowbody” 737 Max 8 passenger liners, the deal first to be announced at this year’s Singapore Airshow. The two-engined plane usually carries 178 passengers and has a range of around 6,500km. Now in its tenth year, the Singapore Airshow is the region’s premier aviation exhibition event and features both civilian and defence companies. – AFP

Traders in Asia ignore AI-fuelled sell-off on Wall St

o Stocks mostly rise, precious metals continue recovery on dip-buying

HONG KONG: Stocks mostly rose yesterday as investors brushed off another tech-fuelled sell-off on Wall Street, while precious metals continued their recovery on dip-buying following a two-day collapse. Oil prices also extended gains on a fresh pick-up in US-Iran tensions after an American jet shot down an Iranian drone in the Middle East, just as the two sides prepared to hold key nuclear talks. Assets across the board have endured a volatile start to February owing to a surge in the dollar, geopolitical tensions and the possibility of another US government shutdown. Concerns over artificial intelligence have also kept traders on their toes amid questions over the vast sums invested in the sector and warnings of a bubble that could pop at any time. The latest flare-up came in New York, where markets were spooked by news that AI startup Anthropic – which created the Claude chatbot – had revealed a tool that could be used by firms to carry out legal work. The announcement hit firms in the software, financial services and

day between the two in Middle Eastern waters, after Iranian forces attempted to detain a US-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. The incidents come after Washington and Tehran agreed to talks despite Trump’s repeated threat of military action against Iran – and Iran’s warning that it would respond with strikes on US vessels and bases. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that US envoy Steve Witkoff is still expected “to have conversations with the Iranians late this week”. Traders were cheered by news that Trump had signed into law a congressional spending bill to fund government agencies while buying more time for lawmakers to negotiate over the administration’s immigration crackdown. Negotiations had broken down following the killing of two US citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis, the Minnesota city which has become the flashpoint for the president’s policies. However, lawmakers now have just two weeks to negotiate a full-year Department for Homeland Security bill. – AFP Asymmetric Advisors said the software issue was more pressing. “At this stage I really don’t care how much pressure memory prices may put on profits and what happens to its hardware margins, which over time is somewhat irrelevant,” he wrote. “What is now... crucial for (Nintendo) is to sell more software.” The Switch 2, the world’s fastest-selling games console, launched in June as the successor to the first Switch. The original is now the second top-selling console of all time after Sony’s PlayStation 2, having struck a chord during the Covid-19 pandemic with games such as Animal Crossing . But for the Switch 2 new releases have been thin on the ground since last year’s Mario Kart World and Pokemon Legends: Z-A . Gaming industry consultant Serkan Toto told AFP that “Nintendo’s first-party software slate looks thin” with players still waiting for an announcement on the next big titles. Third-party releases coming this year, including Resident Evil Requiem , could help fill the gap, noted Krysta Yang of the Nintendo-focused Kit and Krysta Podcast. – AFP

Gold was sitting just above US$5,070 an ounce and silver around US$89 – both well off last week’s record highs of US$5,595 and US$121 but up from the lows of US$4,597 and US$71 seen in the past two days. “Investors and traders are dipping their toes in the waters after the clear-out of a lot of the froth and leveraged speculative positions,” said Saxo Markets’ Neil Wilson. “(This) A) might give them confidence that perhaps the worst of the volatility is over; and B) prices had plunged so much so fast they think it’s worth a go at these levels. “A lot of people sitting on the sidelines for months feeling every day they’d missed their chance to get in will be part of this renewed wave of buying.” Oil prices rose after it emerged a US fighter jet had taken out an Iranian drone that approached an aircraft carrier on Tuesday. That was the second clash that

asset management industries. Downbeat sales projections from Advanced Micro Devices compounded the darker mood. Shares in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai, Wellington, Taipei and Bangkok rose but Tokyo and Manila slipped. London, Frankfurt and Paris advanced at the open. The mixed day pointed to a return of stability after two days of sharp swings sparked by AI concerns and Donald Trump’s hawkish pick to lead the Federal Reserve, which dampened interest rate cut bets. Precious metals rose for a second day, after tanking on Friday and Monday as the US president’s tapping of Kevin Warsh – a former Fed governor – sent the dollar surging. The greenback had been taking a battering for most of last week on worries Trump was happy to have a weaker currency.

Nintendo shares dive 11% on software sales, chip crunch TOKYO: Shares in Japanese gaming giant Nintendo plunged 11% yesterday, as it was hit by investor concern over software sales and the impact of a memory chip shortage. The selloff came a day after the “Super Mario” maker said net profit jumped more than 50% year-on-year in April-December thanks to sales of its new Switch 2 console. However, the results missed market expectations and Nintendo left its full-year net profit forecast unchanged. Analysts pointed to what they see as a lacklustre line-up of new Nintendo games, while a global chip crunch created by massive demand for artificial intelligence hardware also threatens higher manufacturing costs. Company president Shuntaro Furukawa said at a post-results briefing on Tuesday that higher memory chip prices could potentially weigh on profits, Bloomberg News reported. But Amir Anvarzadeh of

A woman taking photos of a Super Mario figure at a Nintendo store in Tokyo. – AFPPIC