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At first glance, the office desk could belong to any Chinese executive — an ashtray, mini-flags, a golden sculpture inscribed with the character for “integrity”, and a picture of a local celebrity.Instead, it is part of a defiant art show challenging Hong Kong’s stuffy power structures, held in an office tower at the heart of a finance district famous for its long hours and cut-throat competition.The group exhibition — named “RE:URGENT” in mockery of corporate-speak — is meant to “subvert the office space that we are working in every day”, said curator Renee Lui, managing director of Young Soy Gallery.The exhibition mirrors a workspace, with four artists given a standard office cubicle to present their work in, and one displaying in the boss’ office.  “This is sort of a really rigid space that people (wouldn’t normally) see as being able to contain creative ideas,” Lui told AFP.The main office is occupied by artist Dominic Johnson-Hill, whose idiosyncratic desktop was inspired by his 28 years doing business in Beijing.”I went to a lot of bosses’ offices,” he said. “I really wanted to sort of copy a lot of that paraphernalia.” His displayed pieces include a surreal digital wall clock, which tells time in an eerie, robotic voice. Next to its numbers is a picture of people looking down at their phones whilst queuing to enter a coffin store. Johnson-Hill came across such traditional shops in a Hong Kong neighbourhood and was inspired to create the piece, which he said poked fun at aimless work culture.”I thought how wonderful it would be to see people dressed in office attire queuing… (it’s) a ridiculous idea that was quite playful,” he said. In another cubicle, artist Riya Chandiramani sits role-playing as an “unpaid intern” who dreams of starting a feminist revolution. In a painting, she imagines herself as the Hindu goddess Kali, forced into a treacherous game of snakes and ladders set in the workplace.”The numbers also represent ages, and so there is also that aspect of women not being allowed to age,” Chandiramani said. – ‘Rebels still allowed’ -The show is taking place during Hong Kong’s “Art Month”, headlined by art fairs which draw wealthy buyers from around the world.But gallery co-founder Shivang Jhunjhnuwala said he decided to ditch the fairs after two years because of high exhibition costs and “a lack of confidence in the art market”.The show is pushing against the mainstream in its thematic matter too. In one corner, almost unnoticed, is a palm-sized paper cutout of Chinese President Xi Jinping, trapped within multiple frames, by pseudonymous artist Louie Jaubere. “The people are not in control of what the state dictates,” the artist said. “But it is not targeted at China; it generally represents government or state control.”Hong Kong’s freedom of expression and political rights have been whittled away since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in 2020 after large and sometimes violent protests the year before. At the show’s opening, retired architect Serena Chan said she appreciated the show’s sense of humour.”The other rebels are all gone,” she said. “Rebels in art are probably still allowed, so let’s have more of that.”

Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison is under renewed pressure from Beijing after selling its Panama Canal ports, with Chinese authorities publishing newspaper criticism of the deal for the second time in three days.Last week the business empire of Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, sold most of its ports operations — including those in the canal — to a US-led consortium following pressure from US President Donald Trump.In a statement, CK Hutchison Holdings said it would offload a 90-percent stake in the Panama Ports Company and sell a slew of other non-Chinese ports to a group led by giant asset manager BlackRock for $19 billion in cash.On Saturday, the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office — the Beijing-based authority in charge of Hong Kong affairs — reposted a newspaper editorial titled “Great entrepreneurs have always been outstanding patriots”.The article, originally published by the Beijing-backed newspaper Ta Kung Pao in Hong Kong, said many Chinese people have questioned “how so many important ports can be so easily handed over to ill-meaning American forces”.”If (entrepreneurs) fail to see the true nature of American politicians… and choose to dance with them, perhaps they can do a mega-deal and get rich for a while, but in the end they have no future and will be scorned by history,” the piece read.The same article was also republished in full on Saturday by the Liaison Office, the top Beijing authority based in Hong Kong.- ‘Choose a side’ -CK Hutchison stocks in Hong Kong plunged more than six percent on Friday after Chinese authorities republished an op-ed telling the company to choose “which side it stands on”.That older article appeared in the commentary section of Thursday’s Ta Kung Pao, which is owned by a subsidiary of the Liaison Office.In contrast, Saturday’s editorial was excerpted on the front page and its full text ran on page three.The paper’s website published three more opinion pieces by outside contributors on Sunday morning, all critical of the deal.CK Hutchison has not responded to AFP’s request for comment.For months, Trump has complained that China controls the Panama Canal and that American vessels were overcharged for using it, even refusing to rule out a military invasion of Panama to “take back” the vital waterway.Before the sale, CK Hutchison’s subsidiary in Panama had managed two of the five ports at the canal — one at Cristobal and the other at Balboa — via a government concession since 1997.The ports transaction was “purely commercial… and wholly unrelated to recent political news”, co-managing director Frank Sixt said when the deal was announced.China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian declined to comment on the deal earlier this month.The Hong Kong government has said it “never interfered in the commercial operation of Hong Kong companies”.CK Hutchison Holdings is one of Hong Kong’s largest conglomerates, spanning finance, retail, infrastructure, telecoms and logistics.

The creation of a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” in the United States is further proof of President Donald Trump’s support for the cryptocurrency sector.Trump earlier this month signed an executive order establishing the reserve, which White House crypto chief David Sacks has likened to “a digital Fort Knox”, comparing it to the stockpiling of gold bars at the US military base.Gold is held in reserves by countries worldwide as the metal is seen as a safe-haven asset, protecting against financial instability such as high inflation.The metal on Friday surpassed $3,000 per ounce for the first time, boosted by an uncertain economic outlook amid Trump’s tariffs.Gold reserves can help also stabilise a country’s currency, while bars are used as collateral for loans and transactions.- How will US bitcoin reserve work? -It is to be funded by about 200,000 bitcoins, worth around $17 billion in total, that have been seized in the United States as a result of civil and criminal cases.The reserve will be virtually secured for an indefinite time.Additional bitcoin can be added to the reserve as long as such action is “budget-neutral”, thus not costing the taxpayer. – Announcement fails to impress -The price of bitcoin initially slid after Trump signed the executive order but has since stabilised.Analysts have blamed the lack of support on a failure to immediately buy more bitcoin.Dessislava Aubert, an analyst at crypto data provider Kaiko, told AFP that “legally” the US government must return bitcoin to all victims identified as suffering from a hack.According to Aubert, “a big chunk” of the bitcoin held by the United States — estimated at around 198,000 tokens — would have to be returned to victims of a hack at crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016.Sector watchers are also waiting to see if other digital tokens will be added to the reserve, which is possible according to the executive order.Trump has said that bitcoin’s nearest rival, ether, along with three other tokens — XRP, Solana and Cardano — could be added.- Reason to copy gold reserve? -Critics of the US bitcoin reserve point out that, unlike gold, cryptocurrencies are risky assets and have no intrinsic value.However, Sacks believes that by storing bitcoin over time, the government would protect itself from the cryptocurrency’s massive short-term volatility.Meanwhile, Stephane Ifrah, an investment director at crypto platform Coinhouse, said that bitcoin, like gold, can profit from its rarity thanks to a limited 21 million tokens.An advantage of the bitcoin reserve is its transparency, since the level of tokens will be known at all times — unlike the amount of gold placed in Fort Knox.Additionally, with the bitcoin reserve, “we’re dealing with a rare asset that’s much more suited to today’s world”, Ifrah told AFP.Prominent cryptocurrency critic, Molly White, believes the “true reason” for the reserve “is a way to drive interest in the crypto industry”, which could financially benefit investors.Trump has been accused by some of showing a conflict of interest, having vowed ahead of being elected to make the United States the “bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world”. The Financial Times reported that Trump earned $350 million from launching a meme coin, $TRUMP, to coincide with his inauguration.The Wall Street Journal has reported that the Trump family discussed acquiring a possible stake in the Binance platform — a report denied by the crypto exchange’s founder.- Other country plans -Brazil is also considering the creation of a cryptocurrency reserve, an idea recently ruled out by the Swiss central bank.Governments around the world are partaking in cryptocurrency activity, notably by selling digital assets seized in court cases, as was the case in Germany last year with 50,000 bitcoins.El Salvador made bitcoin one of its official currencies, reversing the decision this year owing to a lack of take-up by citizens.Bhutan holds nearly $900 million worth of bitcoin, equivalent to nearly 30 percent of the kingdom’s gross domestic product.

Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration will not eject fast-fashion juggernaut Shein from the US market, its executive chairman Donald Tang has told AFP.The head of the online platform, which has come in for scrutiny over its environmental footprint and allegations of human rights violations, also insisted that the company does not use forced labour.- ‘Customers not affected’ -“We’re not focusing on customs policy,” Tang said about the new US import levies, speaking during a visit to France this week.”We will find a way to deliver the goods,” he added, saying that Shein’s “business model” had seen the company through other global trade upsets like the coronavirus pandemic.This time, however, China is directly in Washington’s crosshairs, with 20-percent additional tariffs levied on products imported from the country.The Trump administration has also cast doubt on whether imported packages worth less than $800 will continue to enjoy duty-free status.Shein — a firm founded in China but now headquartered in Singapore — and Temu have for years surfed on that practice to send tens of billions of dollars worth of product into the US from their network of Chinese factories.Tang said that whatever happens, “we will do our best to make sure the customers’ interest and customers’ experience is not affected” — without detailing any specifics.- ‘No forced labour’ -Like other major players in the textile sector, Shein has come in for regular allegations of exploiting members of the Uighur minority in the cotton fields and factories of the northwestern Chinese region Xinjiang.”The policy is zero tolerance” on forced labour, Tang told AFP. “We don’t tolerate it at all, no questions asked.”He added that the company had a code of conduct “totally, 100 percent aligned with the International Labour Organization Convention” that it required suppliers to sign.And once deals are in place, “we have international renowned auditors come into the factories with unannounced visits,” Tang said.David Hachfeld of campaign group Public Eye, which has published an investigation into Shein, said the group’s measures had not been enough.”In manufacturing, 75 hours a week was typical for most workers,” Hachfeld said, with “one and a half free days per month”.Amnesty International has also called for Shein to be more transparent.Any company with operations in Xinjiang should set up human rights checks, the campaign group has argued.”If Shein has not ndertaken this crucial step, it should pause its operations in Xinjiang,” Amnesty told AFP by email.”Conversely, if the company is confident it has eliminated such risks, it should publicly disclose how this has been verified”.- Market flotation -Many investors expect Shein to float on a major global stock market sometime this year, with London seen as the most likely venue.But Tang was not giving away any hints about the plans — beyond saying that a listing would reinforce trust.”We wanted to embrace the universal mechanism for accountability and transparency, to have transparency as a requirement, not optionality,” he told AFP, hoping to stoke “public trust, which is crucial for our long-term growth”.The head of the British Parliament’s Business and Trade Committee said in January he and other members were “horrified” by Shein’s lack of transparency about where its products come from.Tang said that the company has since responded to MPs’ questions.The brand recently announced it will pump 200 million euros ($220 million) into European circular-economy and recycling projects, in a bid to polish its image.”We have been meeting different companies in Paris and other cities in France and talking to the technology leaders” in the sector, Tang said — without naming the prospective partners.Shein will likely face a hard sell when it comes to European environmental groups.Friends of the Earth calculated in 2023 that Shein’s operations — which it said add around 7,200 new items for sale per day on average — emit “between 15,000 and 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide” every 24 hours.The European Union and individual countries including France are already weighing regulations to limit waste from fast-fashion giants.

Gold rose above $3,000 for the first time Friday as President Donald Trump’s trade wars boosted demand for safe-haven assets, while stock markets bounced on signs US lawmakers would avert a government shutdown.Major US indices opened higher and remained in positive territory through the day, shrugging off a downcast reading on US consumer sentiment.European stock markets were also given a lift after Germany moved closer to approving a massive infrastructure and defense spending program.In Washington, hours before a deadline to push a Republican spending bill through, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer dropped a threat to block it.The package would keep the government operating through September, but Democrats had come under pressure from supporters to defy the plan, which they say is full of harmful spending cuts.Stocks gained support from “a burgeoning sense that a government shutdown will be averted after Senator Schumer said he will vote for House-passed continuing resolution,” said Patrick O’Hare, analyst at Briefing.com.A consumer survey by the University of Michigan said expectations for the future “deteriorated,” with “many consumers”: citing a “high level of uncertainty around policy and other economic factors.”Paris and Frankfurt both rebounded after losses the previous day on US tariff threats. Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said his conservative party had struck a deal with the Greens on boosting defense and infrastructure spending, paving the way for the plan’s approval in parliament.”Germany is poised to pursue essential structural reforms while hoping for an end to the economic downturn,” said Jochen Stanzl, an analyst at CMC Markets. “Investor sentiment shifted dramatically today.”- Times of uncertainty -Gold, a haven in times of uncertainty, rose to as much as $3,004 an ounce before falling back to just under $3,000.The precious metal was “boosted on increased haven demand amid trade war risks and recent stock market volatility”, said Fawad Razaqzada, an analyst at City Index and Forex.com.In the latest salvo, Trump threatened to impose 200 percent tariffs on wine, champagne and other alcoholic beverages from European Union countries.Wall Street has been hammered in recent sessions by trade tensions, with the S&P 500 slipping into a technical correction Thursday, having fallen more than 10 percent from a record high it hit just last month.The broad-based S&P 500 finished at 5,638.94, up 2.1 percent for the day, but down 2.3 percent for the week. Some analysts warned that Friday’s rebound would be short-lived.”Recent rallies have run into a buzzsaw of selling pressure,” said Nathan Peterson, an analyst at Charles Schwab. “Tariff escalations, a potential government shutdown, and persistent growth concerns due to trade policy make it difficult to sustain any kind of a bounce.”In company news, shares in Gucci-owner Kering plunged more than 11 percent in Paris as the group appointed a new creative director for its struggling flagship brand.Shares in BMW were in the red as the German automaker warned that trade tensions between the United States, Europe and China would cost the company $1 billion this year.- Key figures around 2040 GMT -New York – Dow: Up 1.7 percent at 41,488.19 (closeNew York – S&P 500: UP 2.1 percent at 5,638.94 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 2.6 percent at 17,754.09 (close) London – FTSE 100: UP 1.1 percent at 8,632.33 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.1 percent at 8,028.28 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.9 percent at 22,986.82 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 37,053.10 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.1 percent at 23,959.98 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.8 percent at 3,419.56 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0884 from $1.0852 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2936 from $1.2952Dollar/yen: UP at 148.62 yen from 147.81 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.14 pence from 83.79 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.0 percent at $70.58 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.0 percent at $67.18 per barrel

China-based DeepSeek shook up the world of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) early this year with a low-cost but high-performance model that challenges the hegemony of OpenAI and other big-spending behemoths.Since late 2022, just a handful of AI assistants — such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s Gemini — have reigned supreme, becoming ever more capable thanks to multi-billion-dollar investments in engineers, data centers, and high-performance AI chips.But then DeepSeek upended the sector with its R1 model, which it said cost just $6 million or so, powered by less-advanced chips.While specialists suspect DeepSeek may have cost more than its creators claim, its debut fueled talk that GenAI assistants are becoming just a regular commodity, thanks to innovation and market forces.”The first company to train models must expend lots of resources to get there,” said CFRA senior equity analyst Angelo Zino.”The second mover can get there cheaper and more quickly.”At a HumanX AI conference in Las Vegas this week, Hugging Face co-founder Thomas Wolf said it is getting less expensive to launch GenAI models — and less important which one people use.”I feel like we are moving to this multi-model world, which is a good thing,” Wolf said, pointing to the muted reception given to the most recent version of ChatGPT.- Stay flexible -At the conference, OpenAI chief product officer Kevin Weil pushed back against the notion that all models are created equal.”That’s actually not true,” Weil said.”The days of us having a 12-month lead are probably gone, but I think we have a three- to six-month lead, and that is really valuable.”Weil said OpenAI plans to fight to keep that narrowing edge over its competitors.With 400 million users, San Francisco-based OpenAI has the advantage of being able to use data from massive traffic to continually improve its models, Weil explained.”OpenAI has the Google advantage of being the thing that’s in everybody’s minds,” said Alpha Edison equity firm research director Fen Zhao.Jeff Seibert, chief of the accounting and AI start-up Digits, agreed that OpenAI will stay ahead of the pack but added that he expects the gap to eventually close.”For advanced use cases, yes, there will be a lot of advantages,” he said of OpenAI’s position.”But for a lot of stuff, it won’t matter as much.”Seibert advises entrepreneurs to design their technology to allow them to swap out GenAI models, affording them flexibility in a quickly changing industry.- Cash burn -Improved use of chips and new optimization techniques have driven down the cost of designing the large language models (LLMs) that power ChatGPT, Gemini and their rivals.An open-source approach taken by some LLMs is credited with helping accelerate innovation by making the software free for anyone to tinker with and improve.The valuation of closed-model startups such as Anthropic and OpenAI has likely peaked as their “first-mover advantage dissipates,” according to Zino.Japanese investment colossus SoftBank pumped $40 billion into OpenAI in February in a deal that valued the startup at $300 billion — almost double what it was last year.“If you’re burning a billion dollars a month, which I think OpenAI is, you have to keep raising money,” said Jai Das of venture capital firm Sapphire Ventures.”I have a hard time seeing how they get to a point where revenues are higher than the amount of cash they burn.”Anthropic raised $3.5 billion in early March, valuing the champion of responsible AI at $61.5 billion.

Gold surpassed $3,000 for the first time Friday as US President Donald Trump’s trade wars boosted demand for the safe-haven asset, while stock markets bounced on signs US lawmakers would avert a government shutdown.US shares rose in early deals after slumping in recent sessions while Asian equities ended the week on a positive note.European stock markets were also given a lift in afternoon deals after Germany moved closer to approving a massive infrastructure and defence spending programme.In Washington, with just hours until a deadline to push a Republican spending bill through, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer dropped his threat to block it.The package would keep the government operating through September, but Democrats have come under pressure from their base to defy the plan, which they say is full of harmful spending cuts.Stocks gained support from “a burgeoning sense that a government shutdown will be averted after Senator Schumer said he will vote for House-passed continuing resolution,” said Patrick O’Hare, analyst at Briefing.com.O’Hare said stocks were also getting a boost from speculation China would announce more stimulus measures, and from reports that meetings between Canadian and US officials had made some progress towards easing trade tensions.In the eurozone, Paris and Frankfurt both rebounded after losses the previous day on US tariff threats. Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said his conservatives had struck a deal with the Greens on massively boosting defence and infrastructure spending, paving the way for the plan’s approval in parliament.”Germany is poised to pursue essential structural reforms while hoping for an end to the economic downturn,” said Jochen Stanzl, an analyst at CMC Markets. “Investor sentiment shifted dramatically today.”- Times of uncertainty -Gold, a haven in times of uncertainty, rose as much as $3,004 an ounce before paring back gains later in the day to trade just under $3,000.The precious metal was “boosted on increased haven demand amid trade war risks and recent stock market volatility”, said Fawad Razaqzada, an analyst at City Index and Forex.com.In the latest salvo, Trump threatened to impose 200 percent tariffs on wine, champagne and other alcoholic beverages from EU countries.His threat came after the bloc’s planned levies on American-made whiskey and other products in retaliation to US levies on steel and aluminium.Trump said he would not row back on the metals duties, nor his plans for sweeping tariffs on countries worldwide that are to kick in on April 2.Wall Street has been hammered in recent sessions by trade tensions, with the S&P 500 slipping into a technical correction Thursday, having fallen more than 10 percent from the record high it hit just last month.Some analysts warned that Friday’s rebound would be short-lived.”Recent rallies have run into a buzzsaw of selling pressure,” said Nathan Peterson, an analyst at Charles Schwab. “Tariff escalations, a potential government shutdown, and persistent growth concerns due to trade policy make it difficult to sustain any kind of a bounce.”In company news, shares in Gucci-owner Kering plunged more than 11 percent in Paris as the group appointed a new creative director to helm its struggling flagship brand.Shares in BMW were in the red as the German automaker warned that trade tensions between the United States, Europe and China would cost the company $1 billion this year.Major Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings — owned by tycoon Li Ka-shing — tumbled after Chinese officials in the city reposted a newspaper opinion piece attacking the firm over its sale of a controlling stake in Panama ports under pressure from Trump.It had surged as much as 25 percent after the sale was announced last week.- Key figures around 1640 GMT -New York – Dow: Up 1.2 percent at 41,304.64 points New York – S&P 500: UP 1.6 percent at 5,608.70 New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 2.0 percent at 17,655.95 London – FTSE 100: UP 1.1 percent at 8,632.33 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.1 percent at 8,028.28 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.9 percent at 22,986.82 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 37,053.10 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.1 percent at 23,959.98 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.8 percent at 3,419.56 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0878 from $1.0849 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2919 from $1.2948Dollar/yen: UP at 148.29 yen from 147.75 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.23 pence from 83.75 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.5 percent at $70.33 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $66.97 per barrel

Gold surpassed $3,000 for the first time Friday as US President Donald Trump’s trade wars boost the safe-haven asset, while stock markets bounced on hopes US lawmakers will avert a government shutdown.US shares rose in early deals after slumping in recent sessions while Asian equities ended the week on a positive note.European stock markets were also given a lift in afternoon deals after Germany moved closed to approving a massive infrastructure and defence spending programme.In Washington, with just hours until a deadline to push a Republican spending bill through, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer dropped his threat to block it.The package would keep government operating through September, but Democrats have come under pressure from their grassroots to defy the plan, which they say is full of harmful spending cuts.Stocks gained support from “a burgeoning sense that a government shutdown will be averted after Senator Schumer said he will vote for House-passed continuing resolution,” said Patrick O’Hare, analyst at Briefing.com.O’Hare said stocks were also getting a boost from speculation China will announce more stimulus measures, and from reports that meetings between Canadian and US officials may have made some progress towards easing trade tensions.London’s FTSE 100 index rose as the pound dropped against the dollar, after data showed the UK economy unexpectedly shrank in January. In the eurozone, Paris and Frankfurt both rebounded after losses the previous day on US tariff threats. Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said his conservatives had struck a deal with the Greens on massively boosting defence and infrastructure spending, paving the way for the plan’s approval in parliament.- Times of uncertainty -Gold, a safe haven in times of uncertainty, rose as much as $3,004 an ounce before paring back gains later in the day to trade under $3,000.The precious metal was “boosted on increased haven demand amid trade war risks and recent stock market volatility”, said Fawad Razaqzada, analyst at City Index and Forex.com.In the latest salvo, Trump threatened to impose 200 percent tariffs on wine, champagne and other alcoholic beverages from European Union countries.His threat came after the bloc’s planned levies on American-made whiskey and other products in retaliation to US levies on steel and aluminium.Trump said he would not row back on the metals duties, nor plans for sweeping tariffs on countries worldwide due to kick on April 2.Wall Street has been hammered in recent sessions by trade tensions, with the S&P 500 slipping into a correction Thursday, having fallen more than 10 percent from its recent peak — a record high touched just last month.In company news, shares in Gucci-owner Kering slumped more than 11 percent in Paris as the group appointed a new creative director to helm its struggling flagship brand.Shares in BMW were in the red as the Germany automaker warned that trade tensions between the United States, Europe and China would cost the company $1 billion this year.Major conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings — owned by tycoon Li Ka-shing — tumbled in Hong Kong after Chinese officials in the city reposted an newspaper opinion piece attacking the firm over its sale of a controlling stake in Panama ports under pressure from Trump.It had surged as much as 25 percent after the sale last week.- Key figures around 1340 GMT -New York – Dow: Up 0.6 percent at 41,037.37 points New York – S&P 500: UP 1.1 percent at 5584.42 New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.8 percent at 17,611.92 London – FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 8,583.13 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.9 percent at 8,012.07Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.6 percent at 22,940.17Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 37,053.10 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.1 percent at 23,959.98 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.8 percent at 3,419.56 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0893 from $1.0849 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2939 from $1.2948Dollar/yen: UP at 148.57 yen from 147.75 yenEuro/pound: UP at 85.40 pence from 83.75 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $70.14 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $66.81 per barrel

German automaker BMW warned Friday that it would take a big hit from trade wars between the United States, China and Europe this year, on top of weak Chinese demand, after profits plunged in 2024.Finance chief Walter Mertl said at the presentation of BMW’s annual results that US tariffs on steel and aluminium, in place since Wednesday, would hit the group’s profit margins.CEO Oliver Zipse put the total cost of tariffs — including European Union levies on cars imported for China — at one billion euros ($1.08 billion) in an interview with Bloomberg TV.Overall, BMW said that it expected earnings before taxes in 2025 to be at the same subdued level as in 2024, while warning that much depended on rapidly changing trade policies.In January, Zipse called on the the EU to lower its tariff on American cars in an effort to smooth tensions. That same month, BMW filed a legal challenge against the EU’s tariffs on Chinese electric cars.The Munich-headquartered group makes cars and motorbikes all over the world, including in China.Speaking at the results conference, Joachim Post, responsible for supply chains at BMW, said the group’s global network meant that it would try to be “flexible”, reducing costs “and even avoiding customs duties where we can.”- China challenge -For 2024, the group’s net profit fell 37 percent to 7.7 billion euros ($8.3 billion) while revenues were down over eight percent to 142.4 billion euros. That was partly down to issues with a braking system that affected over 1.5 million vehicles, as well as issues in China, where European carmakers have been losing ground to local rivals such as BYD.Vehicle deliveries in China were down 13.4 percent last year, while total deliveries of BMW group, which also includes Mini and Rolls-Royce, fell just four percent. US President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policy, which aims to boost US manufacturing, is a spanner in the works for firms like BMW, even though it makes cars in the United States.Trump hit Canada and Mexico with tariffs before partially rolling them back, including a temporary exemption to most auto imports after an outcry from carmakers in the US who often supply parts from their neighbours.Trump has also threatened to hit the European Union with 25-percent duties, which could hammer the region’s automakers. BMW said its latest guidance for 2025 takes into account tariff moves made so far. It warned that further increases in duties “could have a negative impact”.

Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn reported on Friday a lower-than-expected net profit for 2024 as consumer electronic gadgets underperformed, although demand for its artificial intelligence servers remained robust.The world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer has been moving beyond assembling devices such as Apple’s iPhones into areas ranging from electric vehicles to AI servers.The company said full-year net profit rose seven percent to NT$152.7 billion (US$4.6 billion). That compares with an average forecast of NT$159.4 billion, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts.Full-year revenue rose 11 percent to NT$6.9 trillion, beating the market forecast of NT$6.8 trillion.Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, has been riding a wave of global demand for generative AI in recent years.The company reported a “strong performance” in its AI server business, with revenue up 150 percent, according to documents released ahead of an earnings call with analysts.This year would be the “Year of AI”, the company said, with shipments increasing in every quarter.The earnings announcement comes as US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs against major trading partners including China, Canada and Mexico, igniting trade wars and causing markets to fall.While Foxconn has plants around the world, the bulk of its operations is based in China, which has been hit by 20 percent levies on products shipped to the United States.Foxconn is building a mega-AI server plant in Mexico, which a local official told Bloomberg recently would be completed in a year despite Trump’s tariff threats. The $900 million assembly plant near Guadalajara will become the world’s largest to be powered by Nvidia’s GB200 AI chips, Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro said.Apple said recently it would team up with Foxconn later this year to begin producing servers that power the cloud components of Apple Intelligence in Houston, Bloomberg reported. “I think there will be more and more of these projects, and when these projects mature, we will let everyone know,” Foxconn chairman Young Liu said in response to a question about the company’s plans for further US investment on an online earnings call.- ‘Very confident in Apple’ -Liu noted that tariffs were “quite a headache” for the chief executives of Foxconn’s customers, but he said it was “very, very difficult to predict” how it would unfold. “We can only wait and see what will happen and do what we can do well. This is Hon Hai’s attitude,” Liu said.Foxconn makes most of its revenue from iPhones, whose sales have slipped in markets like mainland China, but Liu brushed aside concerns about the popular gadget.”We are very, very confident in Apple,” Liu said.”I believe that they will definitely do something in the generative AI area, so we will continue to maintain in-depth cooperation with our client. This will not change.”Foxconn has also been in the spotlight over potential cooperation with Japanese automaker Nissan after its merger talks with rival Honda fell through in February.Liu previously said Foxconn was open to buying French auto giant Renault’s stake in Nissan and was looking into a cooperation with Nissan, not a merger.The company has also been looking to expand into the Japanese EV market. Liu said Friday that Foxconn is expected to sign a contract with a Japanese car maker or makers “within one or two months”.