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South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics posted on Thursday a 32 percent rise in profits on-year for the third quarter, driven by AI-fuelled market demand for memory chips.      The artificial intelligence industry has provided a major boost to South Korea’s Samsung and SK hynix, two of the world’s leading memory chip makers, as their products have become indispensable for AI infrastructure.Samsung’s latest earnings report marks a sharp turnaround for the company, which saw its profits plunge more than 50 percent on-year in the second quarter due to the impact of US curbs on AI chip exports to China.”Operating profit increased to 12.2 trillion won (US$8.5 billion). The Device Solutions (DS) Division reported a 19 percent increase in sales quarter-on-quarter, with the Memory Business setting an all-time high for quarterly sales,” the company said in its earnings statement.Its smartphone division logged an 11 percent rise quarter-on-quarter in revenue “due to the successful launch of new foldable phones and solid flagship sales”, it added.”Looking ahead to Q4, the rapid growth of the AI industry is expected to open up new market opportunities for both the DS and DX Divisions,” it said, referring to its chips and smartphone units.The current boom in AI has pushed up prices and shipments of conventional NAND and DRAM memory chips, alongside soaring demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI servers.Samsung said it would invest 40.9 trillion won in its semiconductor facilities this year to meet this growing demand.”The DS division will focus on transitioning to advanced processes and reinforcing existing production lines to meet demand for high-value products,” the company said.Following the earnings report, Samsung’s shares broke a previous record, jumping more than five percent to 105,800 won in the first 30 minutes of trading.- Share surge -“This quarter’s performance is a clear result of the memory market boom,” Hwang Min-seong, research director at market analysis firm Counterpoint, told AFP.  “In the DRAM segment, it has significantly narrowed the gap with SK hynix, the current leader and if this trend continues, we think Samsung could regain DRAM leadership as early as next quarter,” he added. DRAM is a type of memory chip that temporarily stores data, essential for devices like computers, smartphones and AI servers.  Against the backdrop of AI market opportunities, Samsung — a bellwether on South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index — has seen its shares surge more than 90 percent since the beginning of this year.Samsung signed in July a $16.5 billion deal with Tesla under which it will provide the electric car maker with AI6 chips through the end of 2033.The agreement is expected to provide a major boost to Samsung, which has faced headwinds in its foundry business, lagging rivals SK hynix and Taiwan’s TSMC in the race for cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips.The foundry business involves contract-based manufacturing of chips designed by other companies.

Farmers who own New Zealand dairy cooperative Fonterra voted Thursday to sell its consumer business to French group Lactalis, a decision slammed by the country’s foreign minister as “utter madness”.Final farmer votes were cast in a virtual meeting in the morning, with 88.5 percent of the total ballot cast in favour of the sale of Fonterra’s global consumer and associated businesses, Fonterra said in a statement.The total sale price is NZ$4.2 billion (US$2.4 billion), after including the value of Bega Cheese licences worth NZ$375 million, the company said.Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the vote meant “iconic” brands such as Anchor, Mainland and Kapiti were being sold off to the French firm.”This is utter madness. It is economic self-sabotage,” Peters said in a post on social media.”This is an outrageous short-sighted sugar hit that is just giving away New Zealand’s added value to a company from a major EU country,” he said.Fonterra would lose the long-term security of its business, Peters warned.”Three years after this deal starts, Lactalis can begin the three year notice to terminate the milk supply to these brands. Six years is meaningless for a long-term exporter. When it’s over, it really is over.”Fonterra chairman Peter McBride said the company was pleased to have received a “strong mandate” from the farmers who own the cooperative.”We will be able to focus Fonterra’s energy and efforts on where we do our best work. We will have a simplified and more focused business, the value of which cannot be overstated,” he said.Fonterra said it expected the deal to be completed in the first half of 2026 pending regulatory approvals and the process of separating the consumer operations from the rest of the coop.

Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will seek a truce in their bruising trade war on Thursday, with the US president predicting a “great meeting” but Beijing being more circumspect.The tussle between the world’s top two economies, which encompasses everything from rare earths to soybeans and port fees, has rocked markets and gummed up supply chains for months.The meeting between the two men, their first face-to-face encounter since 2019, was due to start at 11:00 am (0200 GMT) in Busan, South Korea, according to the White House.Following productive preparatory talks by top officials, Trump said on Wednesday on his way to South Korea that “a lot of problems are going to be solved”.”We have been talking to them, we’re not just walking into the meeting cold… I think we’re going to have a very good outcome for our country and for the world, actually,” he said.China’s foreign ministry was more cautious, saying that Xi and Trump would have “in-depth” talks on “major issues”.”We are willing to work together with the US side to ensure that this meeting yields positive outcomes, provides new guidance and injects new momentum into the stable development of China-US relations,” ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.Trump indicated that the agreement would include lowering 20 percent tariffs on Chinese goods related to fentanyl, which has killed tens of thousands of Americans.Of particular importance to Trump — with an eye on US farmers — is whether China will resume purchases of American soybeans.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said after the run-up talks in Malaysia that Beijing had agreed to “substantial” purchases.Another major issue is export controls on rare earths announced by Beijing this month that prompted Trump to call the Xi summit into question.Beijing holds a virtual monopoly on these materials, which are essential for sophisticated electronic components across a range of industries.”There are still many unresolved issues between the two countries, given the complexity and sheer volume of their trade ties,” said Yue Su at The Economist Intelligence Unit.”The easiest wins could include removing port fees for ships or lifting some fentanyl-related tariffs, which fall fully under presidential authority. China, in turn, could agree to purchase more US commodities to show goodwill,” Su told AFP.- Crowning achievement -The meeting is due to take place on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit of 21 countries in Gyeongju including the leaders of Japan, Australia and Canada.It is the final stop on an Asia tour that saw Trump showered with praise and gifts, including a replica of an ancient Korean golden crown.In Japan, new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she would nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize and gave him a putter and a gold-plated golf ball.However, Trump’s hopes of a re-run of his 2019 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone frontier appear to have dashed.Trump said though that they would meet in the “not too distant future” and that he would like to “straighten out” tensions between North and South Korea.On Thursday, he hailed the military alliance with South Korea as “stronger than ever” and said he had given the green-light for Seoul to build a nuclear powered submarine.- Taiwan surprise -Even if Xi and Trump come to an agreement, it will not bring a halt to their nations’ fierce economic, technological and strategic rivalry.But the Republican leader will be able to flaunt his skills as a negotiator at a time when US households are growing impatient with persistent inflation. A reconciliation in South Korea would also offer Trump the prospect of a lavish visit to China, similar to the one he made during his first term in 2017.One surprise could be if Xi brings up Taiwan, with speculation that Beijing might press Trump to water down US backing for the self-ruled island.Since 1979, Washington has recognised Beijing over Taipei as the sole legitimate Chinese power, even though the United States remains Taiwan’s most powerful ally and its main arms supplier.”I don’t know that we’ll even speak about Taiwan. I’m not sure. He may want to ask about it. There’s not that much to ask about. Taiwan is Taiwan,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.burs-stu/oho/tc

The dollar strengthened Wednesday while Wall Street stocks were mixed after the Federal Reserve indicated its latest interest rate cut might not be repeated in December.After the US central bank announced a quarter percentage-point interest rate cut that had been expected, Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that another decrease in December “is not a foregone conclusion, far from it.”The statement jolted US markets, lifting the dollar and pushing all three US equity briefly into the red.The Nasdaq later recovered, finishing at a fourth straight record behind another gain by artificial intelligence giant Nvidia, which became the first company to reach a $5 trillion market value.The Dow finished modestly lower while the S&P 500 ended flat.Oxford Economics characterized Powell as “hawkish,” predicting that the central bank would “move to the sidelines” and not cut again until March. Powell also indicated in his press conference that the dearth of economic data due to the US government shutdown could also prompt more cautious policy making.The Dow had earlier topped 48,000 points following fresh peaks set in London and some Asian markets as US President Donald Trump voiced optimism on the eve of crunch trade talks with China’s President Xi Jinping.Trump predicted a “great meeting,” while China’s foreign ministry was more cautious, saying that Xi and Trump would have “in-depth” talks on “major issues.”Key matters concern thorny trade matters such as Chinese exports of rare earths and US efforts to bolster US exports of American soybeans to China.Analysts have also seen Nvidia’s latest surge as partly based on hopes Trump may negotiate a resumption of the company’s exports to China.The two leaders are set to meet Thursday in Busan, a southern port city not far from the APEC summit attended by Trump.The European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are expected to hold interest rates steady this week. Benchmark stocks indices in Tokyo and Seoul each reached record highs Wednesday, while European markets were mixed.After Seoul closed, the United States and South Korea reached an agreement to maintain reciprocal tariffs at 15 percent and to reduce levies on automobiles and auto parts.In company news, shares in UK drugmaker GSK rose more than two percent in London after it raised its full-year guidance on strong sales growth. Shares in Mercedes-Benz rose more than four percent after the company reassured investors it faced no immediate production shutdowns due to microchip shortages, even though third-quarter net profits plunged more than 30 percent due to Trump’s tariff blitz as well as slumping sales in China.US industrial giant Caterpillar surged 11.6 percent after reporting better than expected profits, partly due to strong demand in its energy & transportation business partly related to heavy AI infrastructure investment.- Key figures at around 2020 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 47,632.00 (close)New York – S&P 500: FLAT at 6,890.59 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 23,958.47 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 9,756.14 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,200.88 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.6 at 24,124.21 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 2.2 percent at 51,307.65 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 4,016.33 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1595 from $1.1656 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3187 from $1.3276Dollar/yen: UP at 152.82 yen from 152.06 yenEuro/pound: UP at 87.94 from 87.80 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.8 percent at $64.92 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.6 percent at $60.48 per barrelburs-jmb/des

Stock markets hit record highs Wednesday thanks to optimism over US trade deals, the AI sector and an expected interest-rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.The Dow briefly topped 48,000 points as all three of Wall Street’s main indices set record highs when trading started, following fresh peaks set in London and some Asian markets as US President Donald Trump voiced optimism on the eve of crunch talks with China’s President Xi Jinping.Investors are looking ahead to a meeting of the Federal Reserve, which observers expect will unveil a quarter-percentage-point cut to borrowing costs, as well as earnings reports from tech giants Meta, Microsoft and Google-parent Alphabet after trading closes in New York.”Sentiment is as bullish as it can be heading into what could be one of the most consequential two-day periods for markets this quarter,” said City Index and FOREX.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.The European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are expected to hold interest rates steady this week. Ahead of meeting Xi, Trump indicated that a trade deal had been reached with South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung.Ahead of his arrival in South Korea, Trump told reporters he expects “a lot of problems are going to be solved” during his first in-person discussion with Xi since returning to the White House this year.The two leaders are set to meet Thursday in Busan, a southern port city not far from the APEC summit attended by Trump.Geopolitical hopes have added to an already jubilant atmosphere on Wall Street, with artificial intelligence giant Nvidia in particular benefitting from comments by Trump that fuelled speculation it might be allowed to sell chips in China.Trump’s “remarks sent Nvidia soaring to a $5 trillion company and propelled the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones to new record levels,” said Razaqzada.”In a market already high on AI-fuelled enthusiasm, that was all investors needed to keep the rally going,” he added.After gaining five percent on Tuesday, Nvidia shares rose further on Wednesday, helping it to become the world’s first company with a market capitalisation of $5 trillion.Benchmark stocks indices in Tokyo and Seoul each reached record highs Wednesday.After Seoul closed, the United States and South Korea reached an agreement to maintain reciprocal tariffs at 15 percent and to reduce levies on automobiles and auto parts.Taipei gained more than one percent on the day and Shanghai tracked moderate gains, while Hong Kong was closed for a public holiday.In company news, shares in UK drugmaker GSK rose more than two percent in London after it raised its full-year guidance on strong sales growth. Shares in Mercedes-Benz rose more than four percent after the company reassured investors it faced no immediate production shutdowns due to microchip shortages, even though third-quarter net profits plunged more than 30 percent due to Trump’s tariff blitz as well as slumping sales in China.The price of copper reached a record high Wednesday, with the metal boosted also by tight supply concerns.- Key figures at around 1630 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 47,980.63 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 6,907.35New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 23,952.23London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 9,756.14 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,200.88 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.6 at 24,124.21 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 2.2 percent at 51,307.65 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 4,016.33 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1662 from $1.1656 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3238 from $1.3336Dollar/yen: UP at 152.07 yen from 152.06 yenEuro/pound: UP at 88.10 from 87.80 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.2 percent at $64.62 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.3 percent at $60.93 per barrelburs-rl/rlp

AI chip juggernaut Nvidia became the world’s first $5 trillion company on Wednesday, as investors remain confident that artificial intelligence will deliver a new wave of innovation and growth.The California-based tech giant saw its share price rise by 4.91 percent to $210.90 at the open of trading on Wall Street, pushing Nvidia’s market capitalization past the never-before-seen threshold.By way of comparison, the level was greater than the GDP of France or Germany or higher than that of Tesla, Meta (Facebook), and Netflix combined.Microsoft and Apple, the two other largest global market capitalizations, only just exceed $4 trillion in valuation each.The surge in Nvidia’s share price follows continued strong sales, a flurry of new deals — including a partnership with Europe’s Nokia announced on Tuesday — as well as expectations that the company may soon regain access to China.The company is “largely ahead of any competitor who finds it hard to catch up in the world that Nvidia lives in,” Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management told AFP.”While it’s almost unfathomable to think about a company reaching this milestone, it comes from a company with so many operational efficiencies that seems to announce massive deals on a daily or weekly basis.”Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is expected in South Korea this week, where he will attend the sidelines of the APEC summit at which US President Donald Trump will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, with issues related to AI development expected to be discussed.Nvidia chips are currently not sold in China due to a combination of Chinese government bans, national security concerns, and ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China.The Trump administration favors a more nuanced approach to selling AI chips to Beijing, but faces deep skepticism from China hawks across the US political spectrum who favor tougher bans on AI technology.Nvidia has announced a series of partnerships in recent weeks, including an intention to invest up to $100 billion in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI over the coming years.It also said it would invest $5 billion in struggling chip rival Intel, in response to the Trump administration’s desire to bring back more manufacturing of semiconductors to the United States.- ‘Better, not worse’ -Nvidia produces the advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) that power most generative AI systems, including those behind ChatGPT and other large language models.Although it was not the first to develop GPUs, the California-based group made them its specialty in the late 1990s, quickly pivoting from video games to the then-emerging field of cloud computing, and thus has unique experience in the area.The eyewatering valuations linked to artificial intelligence also include OpenAI becoming the world’s most valuable private company, currently valued at $500 billion.This has sparked talk that the AI frenzy may have entered bubble territory, reminiscent of the 1990s internet investment boom that saw a major reckoning in 2000, when high-flying companies saw their share prices collapse suddenly.Analyst Sam Stovall of CFRA, a research firm, said Nvidia’s expected growth was still very strong and that investors should expect news surrounding the company “will only get better, not worse.”Still, “valuations are elevated… and could therefore be vulnerable to any upsetting news,” he added.

Stock markets hit record highs Wednesday thanks to optimism over US trade deals, the AI sector and an expected interest-rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.On Wall Street both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite set record highs as trading started, following fresh peaks set in London and some Asian markets as US President Donald Trump voiced optimism on the eve of crunch talks with China’s President Xi Jinping.Investors are looking ahead to a meeting of the Federal Reserve, which observers expect will unveil a quarter-percentage-point cut to borrowing costs, as well as earnings reports from tech heavyweights Meta, Microsoft and Google-parent Alphabet after trading closes in New York.”Risk appetite remained firm heading into a busy 48 hour period for markets, where major central banks decide on interest rates, technology companies will report their quarterly results, and more to the point, Trump will meet Xi Jinping in a meeting expected to last three hours,” said City Index and FOREX.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.The European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are expected to hold interest rates steady this week. Ahead of meeting Xi, Trump indicated that a trade deal had been reached with South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung.Ahead of his arrival in South Korea, Trump told reporters he expects “a lot of problems are going to be solved” during his first in-person discussion with Xi since returning to the White House this year.The two leaders are set to meet Thursday in Busan, a southern port city not far from the APEC summit attended by Trump.Geopolitical hopes have added to an already jubilant atmosphere on Wall Street, where highlights during Tuesday’s record-breaking day included a five-percent leap for artificial intelligence giant Nvidia.The company’s shares climbed another 4.5 percent as trading got underway, with analysts saying the shares are benefitting from Trump saying he would talk about the company’s chips with Xi.Benchmark stocks indices in Tokyo and Seoul each reached record highs Wednesday.After Seoul closed, the United States and South Korea reached an agreement to maintain reciprocal tariffs at 15 percent and to reduce levies on automobiles and auto parts.Taipei gained more than one percent on the day and Shanghai tracked moderate gains, while Hong Kong was closed for a public holiday.In company news, shares in UK drugmaker GSK jumped 6.2 percent in London after it raised its full-year guidance on strong sales growth. Shares in Mercedes-Benz rose around six percent after the company reassured investors it faces no immediate production shutdowns due to microchip shortages, even though third quarter net profits plunged more than 30 percent due to Trump’s tariff blitz as well as slumping sales in China.The price of copper reached a record high Wednesday, with the metal boosted also by tight supply concerns.- Key figures at around 1330 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 47,813.81 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 6,908.52New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 23,981.99London – FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 9,765.12 Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,194.76Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.2 at 24,223.96Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 2.2 percent at 51,307.65 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 4,016.33 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1643 from $1.1656 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3214 from $1.3336Dollar/yen: DOWN at 151.91 yen from 152.06 yenEuro/pound: UP at 88.11 from 87.80 penceBrent North Sea Crude: FLAT $63.84 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $60.13 per barrelburs-rl/tw

US President Donald Trump voiced optimism Wednesday on the eve of crunch trade talks with China’s Xi Jinping, while also announcing that a deal with South Korea was “pretty much” finalised.Agreeing a truce in the US-China trade war in the meeting with Xi on Thursday in South Korea would mark a fitting grand finale to Trump’s Asia tour marked by praise, pomp and presents.But a new meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the close of the marathon voyage looked unlikely, with the US president saying “timing” didn’t work out.Beijing said the talks between Xi and Trump would take place in South Korea’s Busan, with the US leader telling reporters “a lot of problems are going to be solved” at the “great meeting”.Global markets will zero in on the outcome to determine whether Trump and Xi can draw a line under a tussle that has snarled supply chains and unsettled businesses the world over.Negotiators from both sides have both confirmed a “framework” has been agreed leading up to Trump and Xi’s first face-to-face meeting during the US president’s second term.”We are willing to work together with the US side to ensure that this meeting yields positive outcomes, provides new guidance, and injects new momentum into the stable development of China-US relations,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.Trump indicated that the agreement would include lowering 20 percent tariffs on Chinese goods related to fentanyl, which has killed tens of thousands of Americans.Other burning issues include Chinese imports of US soybeans, export controls on rare earths, semiconductors for artificial intelligence, and the fate of TikTok.- Golden touch -Trump’s three-country Asia tour has seen Malaysia, Japan and South Korea lavishing the US president with praise and showering him with gifts.New Japanese premier Sanae Takaichi said she would nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize and gave him a putter owned by assassinated ex-leader Shinzo Abe, a close friend of the US president, plus a gold-plated golf ball.Not to be outdone, the US leader disembarked in South Korea to the strains of 1970s disco anthem and Trump rally standard “Y.M.C.A.”, which was thumped out by a military band.President Lee Jae Myung — sporting a golden tie — conferred upon Trump South Korea’s highest order and gave him a replica of an ancient golden crown.”It’s a great honour,” the US president said of the award. “I’d like to wear it right now.”South Korea’s presidential office said Wednesday’s state dinner for the APEC summit in Gyeongju would feature a golden citrus dessert and a gold-adorned brownie.In July, Trump said Washington had agreed to cut tariffs on South Korean imports to 15 percent in exchange for a $350-billion investment pledge.Steep auto tariffs had remained in place, and the two governments were still divided over the structure of the investment pledge.But Trump said at the APEC dinner that the deal had been “reached” before appearing to walk back to say that it was “pretty much” finalised.South Korean presidential aide Kim Yong-beom said the two sides had “reached an agreement on the details of the tariff negotiations”.”South Korea’s financial investment package for the United States, worth $350 billion, consists of $200 billion in cash investment and $150 billion in shipbuilding cooperation,” Kim added.Kim also said they had agreed to maintain reciprocal tariffs at 15 percent and cut auto tariffs to 15 percent.- ‘Enemies’ -North Korea meanwhile announced hours before Trump’s arrival that it test-launched sea-to-surface cruise missiles in a show of strength against Pyongyang’s “enemies”.Trump had extended an invitation to North Korea’s Kim to meet while the US leader was on the peninsula, but Trump said on Wednesday that it would not take place this time around.He said he expected to meet with Kim in the “not too distant future”.Trump added he would aim to “straighten out” tensions between North Korea and South Korea, which technically remain at war.Trump and Kim last met in 2019 at the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), the fraught Cold War frontier that has separated North and South Korea for decades.Kim has since been emboldened with crucial backing from Russia after sending thousands of North Korean troops to fight alongside Moscow’s forces.Gi-Wook Shin, a Korea expert and sociology professor at Stanford University, told AFP that Kim would likely seek to “maximise his leverage with Trump”.”Still, a future meeting remains possible, as Kim likely sees Trump as his best chance to secure the kind of deal he wants, including recognition as a nuclear state,” Shin said.

German premium carmaker Mercedes-Benz sought to reassure investors Wednesday over a feared shortage of microchips as it reported plunging third-quarter profits.”For the short-term we’re covered, and it goes without saying we are scurrying around the world to look for alternatives,” Mercedes boss Ola Kaellenius said on a call with analysts and investors.Chip shortage fears were stoked earlier this month after Dutch officials took control of the Netherlands-based but Chinese-owned Nexperia, citing national security concerns.That prompted authorities in Beijing to ban the export of Nexperia chips out of China.Hundreds of the chips are found in a typical car’s onboard electronics, and industry players are now scrambling to find new suppliers.Volkswagen last week warned that it could not rule out “short-term” production stoppages following the Chinese export ban.Kaellenius said Wednesday that the crisis required a “political solution” rather than a firms rejigging their supply chains.”The chip crisis is a politically induced shortfall in which the main dispute is between the USA and China, with Europe in the middle.”For the third quarter, Mercedes reported a 30.8-percent plunge in net profit to 1.19 billion euros ($1.38 billion), dragged down by US President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz as well as slumping sales in China.That nevertheless beat analyst expectations of 1.09 billion euros in a poll by financial data firm FactSet. Mercedes shares opened up 6 percent in Frankfurt trading.”Our third-quarter results are in line with our full-year guidance,” Kaellenius said.In July, the firm lowered its outlook for the year in the wake of Trump’s tariff onslaught. It said it expected revenue for 2025 to be “significantly below” the 146 billion euros it took in last year.Car exports from the European Union are subject to a tariff of 15 percent under an EU-US deal unveiled late July. That is down from 27.5 percent, but still far higher than the 2.5 percent in force before Trump launched his trade war in April.Mercedes-Benz — which has a plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama — also has to grapple with US duties of 25 percent on imports of car parts that come from outside North America.In the key market of China, meanwhile, sales by volume fell 27 percent in the third quarter, helping drag overall sales down 12 percent.China, the world’s largest car market, has become a battleground for German carmakers amid a brutal price war and fierce competition from local players like BYD.Kaellenius told analysts and investors on the call that Mercedes was working closely with Chinese self-driving software firm Momenta to make cars competitive for the local market. But a turnaround, was “a multi-year task”, he added.”Looking ahead, we expect the market environment to remain challenging,” he said. “Hyper competition in China is not going away anytime soon.”

Asian stock markets surged on Wednesday, matching record gains on Wall Street the previous day as investor confidence in AI tech and coming interest rate cuts in the United States reaches fever pitch.The extended bull run comes ahead of a Wednesday afternoon announcement by the US Federal Reserve, which observers expect will unveil a quarter-percentage-point cut to lending rates.It also has been boosted by growing faith in a deal to avoid a damaging trade war between the world’s top two economies, with US President Donald Trump due to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea.Trump — who arrived in the country Wednesday following visits to Malaysia and Japan — has hinted he is confident of reaching an agreement with Xi.Those hopes have added to an already jubilant atmosphere on Wall Street, where highlights during Tuesday’s record-breaking day included a five-percent leap for artificial intelligence giant Nvidia.There has been “little sign of concern about holding tech risk into the upcoming Fed meeting, which in theory should be a lower-impact event on markets,” wrote Chris Weston of Pepperstone in a note.”It’s the tech show, and this is where capital remains firmly centred,” he said.Japan’s benchmark index leapt by more than two percent on Wednesday, while Seoul surged more than one percent — both reaching record highs.Taipei also gained more than one percent on the day and Shanghai tracked moderate gains.Sydney’s main index finished down, while Hong Kong was closed for a public holiday.During morning trading in Europe, London rose slightly, Paris edged down and Frankfurt was flat.The record streaks have picked up pace ahead of expected earnings reports in the coming days by major US tech giants including Microsoft and Meta.This year’s AI boom has coincided with a global tariff onslaught unleashed by the US president, with policies hitting China particularly hard.Ahead of his arrival in South Korea, Trump told reporters on Air Force One he expects “a lot of problems are going to be solved” during his first in-person discussion with Xi since returning to the White House this year.A spokesperson for Beijing’s foreign ministry confirmed the leaders’ meeting, saying that it would involve “in-depth communication on strategic and long-term issues concerning China-US relations, as well as major issues of mutual concern”.The two leaders are expected to meet Thursday in Busan, a southern port city not far from the APEC summit attended by Trump.- Key figures at around 0830 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 2.2 percent at 51,307.65 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 4,016.33 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 9,721.34West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.1 percent at $60.11 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $64.36 per barrelEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1628 from $1.1656 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3219 from $1.3336Dollar/yen: UP at 152.25 yen from 152.06 yenEuro/pound: UP at 87.96 from 87.80 penceNew York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 47,706.37 (close)