Most Asian markets extend AI-fuelled rally
Asian equities mostly rose Thursday, cheered by another tech-fuelled run-up on Wall Street after Donald Trump’s huge AI investment announcement, as traders assessed the outlook for the next four years under the new president.Shanghai led the winners, eating into year-to-date losses after China unveiled a fresh batch of measures aimed at boosting the country’s stock markets as part of Beijing’s moves to provide support to the stuttering economy.Global investors have largely welcomed the first few days of Trump 2.0 as he held off immediately returning to the hardball trade policies of his first term, having pledged to impose stiff tariffs on key partners within hours of returning to the Oval Office.However, warnings that China, the European Union, Canada and Mexico could be hit as soon as February 1 have given cause for concern.Tech titans including Nvidia, Microsoft and Arm helped lead a surge in New York, pushing the S&P 500 to within a whisker of a record, after Trump announced a new $500-billion venture to build infrastructure for artificial intelligence in the United States.Tokyo-listed SoftBank was named in the venture along with cloud giant Oracle and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and soared more than 10 percent on the news Wednesday. And it extended the rally Thursday, piling more than five percent even after key Trump ally and world’s richest man Elon Musk cast doubt on the scheme and said the main investors “don’t actually have the money”.The advance in SoftBank helped Tokyo build on this week’s gains, while Singapore, Wellington and Jakarta also rose.Shanghai added more than one percent and Hong Kong advanced after authorities unveiled measures to steady the market and unblock bottlenecks, including allowing pension funds to invest in listed companies and push firms to boost share purchases.However, there were losses in Sydney and Manila.Seoul was the biggest loser after South Korea’s central bank said the economy grew in the fourth quarter at its slowest pace of 2024 as the country was hit by the fallout from impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief declaration of martial law.It also expanded less than expected through the entire year as the political chaos hit consumer confidence.The dollar edged up against the yen ahead of the Bank of Japan’s Friday policy decision, with observers widely expecting it to hike interest rates for the third time since March.”Economic data continues to support the BoJ’s case for a rate hike,” said Gregor Hirt at Allianz Global Investors, pointing to upward momentum in core consumer prices.”Wage growth remains a crucial factor. While governor (Kazuo) Ueda previously indicated the need for ‘one more notch of information’ before hiking, deputy governor (Ryozo) Himino recently noted strong wage momentum in BoJ branch managers’ assessments.”This may encourage action before actual Shunto wage data becomes available in March. The yen’s renewed weakness adds pressure to act.”- Key figures around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 39,830.11 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 19,873.70Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.4 percent at 3,258.57Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0405 from $1.0425 on WednesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2307 from $1.2313Dollar/yen: UP at 156.51 yen from 156.45 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.54 pence from 84.48 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.4 percent at $75.17 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $78.73 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 44,156.73 (close)London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,545.13 (close)
Bangladesh student revolutionaries’ dreams dented by joblessness
Bangladeshi students braved bullets to overthrow an autocratic government, but six months after the revolution, many say finding a job is proving a harder task than manning the barricades.Dhaka University student Mohammad Rizwan Chowdhury’s dreams of ample opportunities for youth have been badly dented, saying he had seen little action from the caretaker government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.”I can’t see any fruitful initiatives taken by the government so far,” Chowdhury grumbled, a25-year-old student who took part in the protests that drove autocratic ex-leader Sheikh Hasina into exile on August 5.Unemployment was a key driver of protests last year. Since the revolution, it has only grown worse.At the end of September 2024, the number of people seeking employment in the country of 170 million hit 2.66 million, a six-percent increase from 2.49 million the year before, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).The International Monetary Fund warned in September that economic activity had “slowed markedly, while inflation remains at double-digit levels”, with tax revenues down while spending pressures had increased.For many, the euphoria of Hasina’s ouster is fading.Chowdhury said that while Yunus handed cabinet posts to student leaders, he felt demands were being ignored.”Although our representatives are part of the administration, I’m not sure whether our voices are being heard,” the political science graduate said.- ‘Whatever jobs they can’ -Literature graduate Shukkur Ali, 31, scrapes by on odd jobs to support his elderly and sick parents.”I do anything and everything just to cover the bare minimum,” he told AFP, adding that newspaper job advertisements have dried up.”I used to apply only for white-collar jobs in educational institutions or banks — but failed,” he said. “Now, anything is good for me. I just want a job.”Independent analyst Zahid Hussain,71, former lead economist at the World Bank in Dhaka, said that around a third of the working labour force are “underemployed doing whatever jobs they can to pay the bills”.Bangladesh’s economy grew dramatically after its independence in 1971.That was largely due to its textile industry producing global brands in a multi-billion dollar business as the world’s second-largest garment exporter.But jobs outside the crowded clothing factories for university graduates are far fewer.Educated Bangladeshis make up 87 percent of those without work, according to BBS figures.The government says it is making every effort to address the issue.Shafiqul Alam, Yunus’ press secretary, said robust tax generation would allow the government to invest in the public sector and create a “huge” number of jobs.”Ensuring better revenue collection is a priority, as the previous government left behind a broken economy,” Alam said.- ‘Empty-handed’ -But Yunus, an 84-year-old microfinance pioneer, is also swept up in what he calls the “extremely tough” challenge of restoring democratic institutions ahead of elections slated for this year or early 2026.Those reforms include an overhaul of the constitution and the public administration to prevent a return to autocracy.”The interim government is preoccupied with managing the mess they inherited,” said Hussain, adding there were only “sporadic attempts” to support the youth, such as hiring students to assist traffic police.”The administration isn’t functioning at full speed,” he said. “I’d rate them 50 out of 100.”Challenges are daunting.”The public sector can recruit no more than 20,000 to 25,000 graduates, while around 700,000 graduates leave colleges each year,” said AKM Fahim Mashroor, chief of popular online job site Bdjobs.The private sector provides around 85 percent of jobs, but there is little optimism there either.”Both the public and private sectors have been slow in recruiting since August 5,” he added.And the unrest has spooked investors.Bangladesh’s central bank says foreign investment between July and November 2024 was $177 million — less than a third of the $614 million secured under Hasina’s iron-fisted rule during the same period the previous year.Taskeen Ahmed, president of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the government should roll out programmes to support young job-seekers including “loan schemes for youth to start businesses”.Some like Subir Roy, a 31-year-old finance graduate who was nominated to a government job only for it to be rescinded without reason, said it was already too late for him.”My father sold a small piece of land to send me to university… now I’m returning home empty-handed,” Roy said. “I’ll join my father in the paddy field.”
Bangladesh student revolutionaries’ dreams dented by joblessness
Bangladeshi students braved bullets to overthrow an autocratic government, but six months after the revolution, many say finding a job is proving a harder task than manning the barricades.Dhaka University student Mohammad Rizwan Chowdhury’s dreams of ample opportunities for youth have been badly dented, saying he had seen little action from the caretaker government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.”I can’t see any fruitful initiatives taken by the government so far,” Chowdhury grumbled, a25-year-old student who took part in the protests that drove autocratic ex-leader Sheikh Hasina into exile on August 5.Unemployment was a key driver of protests last year. Since the revolution, it has only grown worse.At the end of September 2024, the number of people seeking employment in the country of 170 million hit 2.66 million, a six-percent increase from 2.49 million the year before, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).The International Monetary Fund warned in September that economic activity had “slowed markedly, while inflation remains at double-digit levels”, with tax revenues down while spending pressures had increased.For many, the euphoria of Hasina’s ouster is fading.Chowdhury said that while Yunus handed cabinet posts to student leaders, he felt demands were being ignored.”Although our representatives are part of the administration, I’m not sure whether our voices are being heard,” the political science graduate said.- ‘Whatever jobs they can’ -Literature graduate Shukkur Ali, 31, scrapes by on odd jobs to support his elderly and sick parents.”I do anything and everything just to cover the bare minimum,” he told AFP, adding that newspaper job advertisements have dried up.”I used to apply only for white-collar jobs in educational institutions or banks — but failed,” he said. “Now, anything is good for me. I just want a job.”Independent analyst Zahid Hussain,71, former lead economist at the World Bank in Dhaka, said that around a third of the working labour force are “underemployed doing whatever jobs they can to pay the bills”.Bangladesh’s economy grew dramatically after its independence in 1971.That was largely due to its textile industry producing global brands in a multi-billion dollar business as the world’s second-largest garment exporter.But jobs outside the crowded clothing factories for university graduates are far fewer.Educated Bangladeshis make up 87 percent of those without work, according to BBS figures.The government says it is making every effort to address the issue.Shafiqul Alam, Yunus’ press secretary, said robust tax generation would allow the government to invest in the public sector and create a “huge” number of jobs.”Ensuring better revenue collection is a priority, as the previous government left behind a broken economy,” Alam said.- ‘Empty-handed’ -But Yunus, an 84-year-old microfinance pioneer, is also swept up in what he calls the “extremely tough” challenge of restoring democratic institutions ahead of elections slated for this year or early 2026.Those reforms include an overhaul of the constitution and the public administration to prevent a return to autocracy.”The interim government is preoccupied with managing the mess they inherited,” said Hussain, adding there were only “sporadic attempts” to support the youth, such as hiring students to assist traffic police.”The administration isn’t functioning at full speed,” he said. “I’d rate them 50 out of 100.”Challenges are daunting.”The public sector can recruit no more than 20,000 to 25,000 graduates, while around 700,000 graduates leave colleges each year,” said AKM Fahim Mashroor, chief of popular online job site Bdjobs.The private sector provides around 85 percent of jobs, but there is little optimism there either.”Both the public and private sectors have been slow in recruiting since August 5,” he added.And the unrest has spooked investors.Bangladesh’s central bank says foreign investment between July and November 2024 was $177 million — less than a third of the $614 million secured under Hasina’s iron-fisted rule during the same period the previous year.Taskeen Ahmed, president of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the government should roll out programmes to support young job-seekers including “loan schemes for youth to start businesses”.Some like Subir Roy, a 31-year-old finance graduate who was nominated to a government job only for it to be rescinded without reason, said it was already too late for him.”My father sold a small piece of land to send me to university… now I’m returning home empty-handed,” Roy said. “I’ll join my father in the paddy field.”
Musk, Wikipedia founder in row over how to describe ‘Nazi salute’
The gesture was controversial enough, but now come the sub-controversies: Elon Musk is trolling Wikipedia and encouraging its defunding after a description of his recent flourish, seen by some as a Hitler salute, appeared on the encyclopedic website.The fight pits two of the internet’s best-known tech giants against each other — and highlights the starkly different ethos behind Musk’s X social media site and Wikipedia, founded by American entrepreneur Jimmy Wales.Musk, as the majority owner of X, is behind recent easing of content moderation rules, which has allowed for rampant disinformation across his social media platform, while simultaneously positioning himself as President Donald Trump’s right-hand man.While Musk’s animosity towards Wikipedia may focus outwardly on the hand gesture, Wikipedia’s goal of factual neutrality makes it a natural adversary to X, a platform increasingly synonymous with heated culture wars, hate speech and disinformation.Wikipedia and the media at large — which Musk has increasingly criticized — also pose a threat by holding him accountable as he thrusts himself into the center of US politics.In a December interview with New York magazine’s Intelligencer, Wales said the aim at Wikipedia is for editors to create content that is “clear and acknowledges the different viewpoints out there” even amid “the rise in divisive feelings, partisanship, culture wars, all of that.”At present, the site is regarded as generally reliable despite being written by a community of volunteers.The dustup between Musk and Wales began after the billionaire raised eyebrows Monday with his gesticulation at a Trump inauguration event.Thanking a crowd for returning Trump to the White House, Musk tapped the left side of his chest with his right hand and then extended his arm with his palm open. He then turned around to the crowd behind him and did it again.As of Wednesday, both Musk’s biographical Wikipedia page as well as the page on the “Nazi salute” mention the episode.- ‘Defund’ Wikipedia -On Tuesday, Musk reposted what appeared to be part of that Wikipedia entry, although the wording found on Wikipedia as of Wednesday was slightly different.The reposted text read: “In his speech during the second Trump inauguration, Musk twice extended his right arm towards the crowd in an upward angle. The gesture was compared to a Nazi salute or fascist salute. Musk denied any meaning behind the gesture.”Alongside the repost, Musk attacked both Wikipedia and the news media, another favorite target, suggesting that each is a purveyor of disinformation.”Since legacy media propaganda is considered a ‘valid’ source by Wikipedia, it naturally simply becomes an extension of legacy media propaganda!” Musk wrote. He additionally called on his supporters to “defund” Wikipedia.Trolling Musk for his 2022 purchase of X for $44 billion, Wales shot back that: “I think Elon is unhappy that Wikipedia is not for sale.”Run by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia is an outlier among today’s internet landscape, dominated by the likes of Google and Meta — instead harking back to the web’s early, idealistic days when the open-source movement harnessed the talents of volunteers to offer free access to tools and knowledge.Wales asked Musk whether there was “anything you consider inaccurate in that description?” and added that it wasn’t propaganda but “fact. Every element of it.”- ‘Trying to be clear’ -Founded on January 15, 2001, the Wikipedia website started in English but within two months had already launched in German and Swedish. It is now available in hundreds of languages.”I would say the decline of trust in journalism and politics is quite severe, which then, in some cases, translates into people feeling more angry and lost,” Wales told Intelligencer.But among the Wikipedia community, he said, “we just plug away, trying to be neutral, trying to be clear.”After Musk’s 2022 purchase of Twitter, rebranded as X, he gutted trust and safety teams and introduced Community Notes, a crowd-sourced moderation tool that the platform has promoted as the way for users to add context to posts.But researchers say the lowering of the guardrails on X, and the reinstatement of once-banned accounts of known misinformation peddlers, has turned the platform into a haven for misinformation.
Larry Ellison, tech’s original maverick, makes Trump era return
US tech titans Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos are taking a prominent place in the new Trump era, but another player from another era — Oracle boss Larry Ellison — is making a surprise return.In the first 48 hours of Trump’s second term, the 80-year-old Silicon Valley veteran has become central to two pressing issues: the fate of TikTok and the growing infrastructure demands of artificial intelligence.Though Ellison’s prominence peaked in the 1990s, before the internet age, when he made headlines as a sports-loving maverick with a passion for tennis, sailing, and public spats with Bill Gates, his influence persists.Unlike most tech leaders who distanced themselves from Trump in 2016, Ellison offered his early support. Today, he ranks among the world’s wealthiest individuals, with a fortune of $230 billion, trailing only Musk and Bezos but ahead of Zuckerberg.On Tuesday, Trump’s first full day in office, Ellison made an unexpected White House appearance to unveil an AI infrastructure project alongside OpenAI’s Sam Altman and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son.”He’s sort of CEO of everything. He’s an amazing man,” Trump enthused while introducing his longtime ally.”The data center we already built, it was the largest computer ever built. The data center we’re building will surpass it,” Ellison said after the meeting.Ellison’s relationship with the Trump administration dates back to the first term, when he played a pivotal role in negotiations over stripping TikTok from its Chinese ownership.In the process, Oracle became a trusted provider of the company’s data storage in the United States.Oracle maintains that role to this day, and is key to keeping TikTok available to US users, at the request of Trump and in a defiance of a US law that could see Ellison’s company fined $5,000 per user.The company is frequently mentioned as a potential buyer of TikTok’s US operations, which were given 75 days on Monday to find non-Chinese ownership or face a permanent ban. Oracle’s share price was up more than seven percent after the AI announcement. – Musk ties -Ellison built his fortune through Oracle, which he founded in 1977 as a data server provider for the CIA among others.Early on, the company competed with Microsoft, IBM, and Sun Microsystems to provide the data infrastructure for the emerging digital economy.Under Ellison’s leadership, Oracle became known for its aggressive corporate culture and ambitious acquisition strategy, spending billions to become the world’s largest database management company.While Oracle’s market value remains smaller than tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon, the company has seen renewed growth amid the AI boom and increasing demand for data server capacity.At the height of his career, Ellison was the brash and hard-knuckle counterpoint to Bill Gates.Ellison made headlines picking fights with some of the biggest names in technology – Gates, Google’s Eric Schmidt – and became comrades in arms with others, most famously Steve Jobs during the period the Apple founder was still exiled from the company he created.While Gates attended elite private schools and Harvard with family support, Ellison grew up on Chicago’s South Side, raised by his great-aunt and heavy-drinking uncle after his teenage mother gave him up at birth in 1944.Known for his athletic build and perpetual tan, Ellison invested heavily in professional sailing, with his Oracle team winning the America’s Cup in both 2010 and 2013.In recent years, he has formed close ties with Musk, investing $1 billion in Twitter’s acquisition and serving on Tesla’s board as a major shareholder.His extensive real estate portfolio includes a $300 million Hawaiian island, which he envisions as an exclusive eco-resort for the ultra-wealthy and where Musk is a visitor.
Trump push to ‘drill, baby, drill’ may hit industry roadblock
President Donald Trump wants to boost US oil production, pledging to bring costs down as he returned to office this week — but analysts warn his efforts could be hampered by the industry itself.Taking aim at an “inflation crisis” which he said was driven by rising energy prices, Trump vowed: “Today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill.””We will be a rich nation again. And it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it,” he pledged in his inaugural address on Monday.While the United States is the world’s leading crude oil producer, the US president wants to boost oil and gas production to lower costs, fill strategic reserves and “export American energy all over the world.”In declaring a national energy emergency, Trump reversed some drilling bans, including in a protected area in Alaska.”It’s hard to reconcile the notion that we have an energy emergency, when the US produced 13.2 million barrels per day of crude oil in 2024,” said analyst Stewart Glickman of CFRA.This was “more than any other country.”The US Energy Information Administration also estimates that US production will hit 13.5 million barrels a day this year, “which would imply yet another annual record,” Glickman told AFP.- Economic interest -But analysts say the prospect of oversupply and worries about global demand currently could make US producers reluctant to step on the accelerator — to prevent crude prices from falling too much.US oil companies will likely “act in their own interest” economically, and drill when they expect it to be profitable, said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.That will depend on the price of oil, he added, alongside the return on capital.Some oil majors are already cautious about global supply.”We are seeing record levels of demand for oil, record levels for demand for products coming out of our refineries,” said ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods on CNBC in November.”But we also see a lot of supply in the world right now,” he said, adding that much of it comes from the United States.Woods recounted how, after the merger of Exxon and Mobil in 1999, the group owned 45 refineries.But when he took the helm in 2017, it only had 22 refineries, he told CNBC.Trump’s strategy has also puzzled analysts considering the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) has 5.8 million barrels per day of unused capacity, said Robert Yawger of Mizuho Americas.Eight members of OPEC+, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, have planned to gradually reverse production cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day since last year.- Profitability -The new US administration “has to justify increases in production by the bottom line. It has to be cost-effective,” said Yawger.”They’re not going to repeat the problem that we’ve done in the past, and that’s just oversupply the market and kill the golden goose,” he added.The emergence of shale oil and gas at the turn of the 2010s disrupted the American oil industry.Concerned about the rise of the United States, Saudi Arabia decided to retaliate by flooding the oil market, causing the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the American benchmark, to fall to $26 in 2016.A part of the shale oil industry shuttered, and surviving players vowed to manage their growth and finances more effectively.”Misguided, irrational energy policies are done,” said Jeff Eshelman, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, said in response to Trump’s announcements. “America’s vast resources will be unleashed responsibly,” he added.