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Troubled Australian casino operator Star Entertainment said Friday it is trying to sell its stake in a major resort to raise desperately needed cash.Shares in the group, which employs more than 8,000 people, have been suspended from trading since March 3 after it failed to post half-year financial results citing liquidity woes.Star Entertainment is considered an economically important tourist draw with casinos, bars, restaurants and hotels at resorts in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.The firm said Friday it has been in talks with two Hong Kong-based firms — Chow Tai Fook and Far East Consortium — which are partners in the joint venture that owns its Brisbane resort.Star Entertainment was discussing selling its 50-percent stake in the Brisbane joint venture to the two partners — so far in vain, it said.”The Star has been unable to reach an agreement with its Joint Venture Partners to date,” the casino group said in a statement.The company is widely reported to be close to falling into administration, and it has admitted there is “material uncertainty” over its future.The casino firm last traded at Aus$0.11 a share (US$0.07) with a market capitalisation of Aus$316 million — a shadow of its Aus$5 billion-plus value from about seven years ago. Its finances have been hit by the cost of developing the new Brisbane casino complex, the threat of an anti-money laundering fine and stricter regulation in the industry, according to the Australian Financial Review.The company has previously been accused of not adequately policing criminal infiltration and doing little to vet the sources of money coming into the business. Watchdogs found that one patron — a Chinese real estate billionaire barred by the Australian government for being an agent of Chinese influence — had ploughed more than a billion dollars into Star over several years. Another high-rolling patron was allegedly involved in human trafficking. The group was also temporarily delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange last year after failing to post its annual financial results on time.Australians are infamously big gamblers, losing Aus$31.5 billion in the 2022-23 financial year, including Aus$3.6 billion in casinos, according to the latest government data.

Wall Street stocks resumed their downward slide on Thursday amid uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s shifting trade policy, while European bourses advanced following an ECB interest rate cut.Major US indices spent the entire day in the red, shrugging off Trump’s moves to soften tariff actions.Trump on Thursday unveiled a temporary rollback to steep tariffs targeting Canada and Mexico, broadening a step announced Wednesday that gave relief to the auto sector. Stocks had rallied after the auto reprieve, but this time all three major indices dropped one percent or more.Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management said the uncertainty around trade policy is “affecting the real economy,” dragging down consumer sentiment and business investment.”The longer that goes on, the more the economy slows,” he said.In Europe, Frankfurt’s DAX index hit a new record as plans for a massive German defense and infrastructure investment program stoked optimism for pulling the eurozone’s largest economy out of recession.France and other eurozone markets ended the day higher as the European Central Bank followed through with an expected quarter-point cut in interest rates.But ECB President Christine Lagarde said that rising trade tensions could knock eurozone economic growth.”We have risks all over and uncertainty all over,” Lagarde added.The ECB cut its growth forecasts for this year and the next while raising its 2025 inflation estimate.Meanwhile, bond yields continued to climb, and the rise extended to Asia, with Japanese 10-year yields hitting 1.5 percent for the first time in more than a decade.The increase signals expectations of higher inflation and that governments, companies and consumers will need to pay more to borrow.- Asia rises -Wednesday’s announcement of the tariff delay buoyed Asian stock markets, in particular lifting the auto sector.The move “helped reinforce hopes there may be some flexibility in the new administration’s trade policy,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.Chinese stocks responded well to Beijing announcing its 2025 growth target of around five percent, at the start of its annual meeting of the National People’s Congress on Wednesday.The meeting has heightened investors’ expectations that a huge fiscal stimulus package could be coming. China has vowed to make domestic demand its main economic driver despite facing persistent economic headwinds, and as an escalating trade war with the US hit exports.- Key figures around 2150 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 42,579.08 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 1.8 percent at 5,738.52 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 2.6 percent at 18,069.26 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 8,682.84 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 8,197.67 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.5 percent at 23,419.48 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 37,704.93 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 3.3 percent at 24,369.71 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.2 percent at 3,381.10 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at 1.0787 from 1.0789 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2882 from $1.2895Dollar/yen: DOWN 147.97 from 148.88 yenEuro/pound: UP at 83.72 pence from 83.67 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 percent at 69.46 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $66.31 per barrelburs-jmb/des

Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC’s plan to invest $100 billion in the United States was a “historic moment” for Taiwan-US ties, the island’s President Lai Ching-te said on Thursday. TSMC, which counts Apple and Nvidia among its clients, announced the plan this week after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on overseas-made chips.It will take the total amount the world’s biggest chipmaker has pledged to invest in the United States to $165 billion, which TSMC said was the “largest single foreign direct investment in US history”.Lai hailed the “historic moment for Taiwan-US relations” at a joint news conference with TSMC chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei at the Presidential Office.It followed Trump’s accusations that Taiwan stole the US chip industry and his threats to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent, as well as Taipei’s promises to invest more in the United States.TSMC has long faced demands to move more of its production away from Taiwan, with fears that supplies of the critical technology could be disrupted in any conflict with Beijing.China has upped military pressure on Taiwan in recent years to press its claim of sovereignty over the self-ruled island, where TSMC has its headquarters and the bulk of its fabrication plants.Trump recently ratcheted up the pressure on TSMC and other chip manufacturers by publicly mulling the introduction of tariffs of 25 percent, or higher, on all chips made outside the United States.- US demand ‘extremely high’ -Lai said on Thursday the government was not pressured by Washington “during TSMC’s US investment process”.Wei said TSMC’s expansion was driven by growing demand from US clients and that it would not affect the company’s investments in Taiwan. TSMC planned to build 11 new production lines in Taiwan this year to meet demand, Wei said, adding “our production capacity is not enough”.”Whenever TSMC builds a production line in any location outside Taiwan, it is always driven by customer demand,” Wei said.”We went to Japan because of Japanese customer demand, to Germany because of German customer demand, and four years ago to the US because of American customer demand,” he said.”Now, we are increasing our investment because the demand from US customers is extremely high.”- ‘Taiwan’s TSMC’ -Taiwan is a global powerhouse in semiconductor manufacturing, with more than half of the world’s chips and nearly all of the high-end ones made there.The concentration of chip manufacturing in Taiwan has long been seen as a “silicon shield” protecting it from an invasion or blockade by China — and an incentive for the United States to defend it.TSMC’s new $100 billion investment sparked concerns that Trump was trying to take control of the company’s production and that its growing US footprint could weaken Washington’s willingness to protect Taiwan.Premier Cho Jung-tai said earlier on Thursday “TSMC is ‘Taiwan’s TSMC'” and the company’s production capacity and advanced technology were “rooted in Taiwan”.

The shock entrance of DeepSeek in the race to develop advanced artificial intelligence has put the world on notice as to China’s innovation prowess, a high-ranking Beijing official said Thursday.The startup released a new version of its AI chatbot in January, sending shockwaves across global markets.DeepSeek wowed industry insiders with its apparent ability to rival or even surpass the capabilities of Western competitors like ChatGPT at a fraction of the cost.”DeepSeek has stood out in the global field of AI,” said Wu Qing, Chairman of China’s Securities Regulatory Commission.”It is not just that the field of AI has been deeply shocked, but now also the world and the financial community have a new understanding of China’s ability to innovate in science and technology,” he said.The official added that DeepSeek had contributed to a “recent re-evaluation of Chinese assets”.”If someone does not talk about DeepSeek these days, it seems that they’re not fashionable,” Wu said.”But this phenomenon is indeed worthy of our high attention.”Recent weeks have seen shares in Chinese tech titans surge.Last month, long-shunned Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma was seen meeting President Xi Jinping at a business symposium — signalling a more welcoming stance from Beijing towards its domestic tech sector.Alibaba’s shares rose more than eight percent during Thursday trading in Hong Kong after it unveiled an AI model with a performance it said was “comparable” to DeepSeek.Investors are watching for announcements this week from Beijing — where officials are convening for a key annual political event known as the “Two Sessions” — on further government support to boost innovation and spending.Wu’s comments came during a press conference on China’s economy, which has struggled to fully recover from the pandemic.Authorities are banking on advanced technology as a lifeline to reach official growth targets this year as heightened trade winds batter the export-dependent nation.

China vowed to fight a trade war with the United States “to the end” on Thursday, as tariffs from Washington buffeted the global economy and threatened to hit Beijing’s lagging growth.Beijing set an ambitious annual growth target of around five percent this week, vowing to make domestic demand its main economic driver as the escalating trade confrontation with the United States hit exports.US President Donald Trump imposed more blanket tariffs on Chinese imports this week, following a similar move last month — levies expected to hit hundreds of billions of dollars in total trade between the world’s two largest economies.Commerce Minister Wang Wentao warned that US tariffs threatened to “disrupt the stability of the global industrial supply chain and hinder the development of the global economy”.”If the United States continues down this wrong path, we will fight to the end,” he told reporters, decrying what he called “unilateralism and bullying” by Washington.China’s top economic planner Zheng Shanjie acknowledged that “uncertainty in the external environment is further increasing”.But, he said, China has “full confidence” that it can reach its growth goal this year.”We have the basic support and guarantee of achieving this year’s growth target of around five percent,” Zheng said, speaking alongside Wang on the sidelines of Beijing’s annual “Two Sessions” political meetings.”We are also facing some problems — such as insufficient domestic demand, production and operation difficulties in some industries and some enterprises,” Zheng added.”However, we feel that these difficulties and challenges… can all be overcome and solved”.- Spending to expand -China’s headline growth figure, announced by Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday at an annual Communist Party conclave, was broadly in line with an AFP survey of analysts.But experts say it is ambitious considering the scale of China’s economic challenges — and are hoping officials will unveil further economic support this week.On Thursday, central bank chief Pan Gongsheng said the country would cut interest rates further this year “as appropriate, based on domestic and international economic and financial situations”.Beijing’s central bank cut two key interest rates to historic lows in October.Finance Minister Lan Fo’an vowed Thursday to “further expand” fiscal spending in 2025.That, he said, would promote “the sustainable and healthy development of the economy and society”.China has struggled to regain its footing since the Covid-19 pandemic, as domestic consumption flags and a persistent debt crisis in the vast property sector drags on.Trump’s latest round of tariffs has deepened the challenges.Beijing announced its own measures on Tuesday in retaliation to Washington’s latest tariff hike and vowed it would fight a trade war to the “bitter end”.The moves will see China impose levies of up to 15 percent on a range of US agricultural products including soybeans, pork and wheat starting from early next week.

The Japanese owner of 7-Eleven announced on Thursday a raft of new measures to fend off a takeover by a Canadian rival, including a huge share buyback and an IPO of its US unit.The announcements are the latest twist in a saga that began last year, when Seven & i rebuffed a takeover offer worth nearly $40 billion from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT).”We’re convinced that now is the time to take our initiatives to the next level, and our leadership will further pursue the improvement of shareholder value and implement transformative policies,” outgoing company president Ryuichi Isaka said in a statement.”We have decided to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) of our SEI shares that operate the North American convenience store business, 7-Eleven, on one of the major US stock exchanges by the second half of 2026,” Seven & i said.It said it plans to buy back two trillion yen ($13.2 billion) of its own shares, using funds generated by that IPO and other restructuring measures.The company also plans to sell its non-convenience-store business — comprising supermarkets, restaurants and other assets — to US private investment firm Bain Capital for $5.4 billion.Seven & i, which operates some 85,000 convenience stores worldwide, also named Stephen Dacus as its first foreign chief executive to replace Isaka.Reports of the raft of measures, that appeared before the retailer’s announcement, caused its shares to surge as much as 10 percent in afternoon trade.They later trimmed those gains and were trading up 6.5 percent before the market closed.- Behemoth -ACT’s takeover would be the biggest foreign buyout of a Japanese firm, merging the 7-Eleven, Circle K and other franchises to create a global convenience store behemoth.Japan’s Yomiuri daily reported this week that a special committee scrutinising ACT’s raised offer of reportedly around $47 billion had decided formally to reject that too.Isaka told a news conference on Thursday that an ACT takeover would pose “serious US antitrust challenges”, and that there had been “no meaningful progress” towards resolving them.”Hence the proposal has no assurance that it would be in the best interest of group shareholders and other stakeholders,” Isaka said through an interpreter.He added however: “We will continue to examine and consider all strategic options, including the proposal from ACT, in order to realize the unlocking of our share value for our shareholders.”- Rice balls -7-Eleven, the world’s biggest convenience store brand, began in the United States but has been wholly owned by Seven & i since 2005.Its stores are a beloved institution in Japan, selling everything from concert tickets to pet food and fresh rice balls, although sales have been flagging.ACT, which began with one store in Quebec in 1980, runs nearly 17,000 convenience store outlets worldwide, including Circle K.Dacus told the news conference that his father was a 7-Eleven franchisee in the United States and that he worked weekend night shifts as a teenager.”I had no way of knowing that nearly 50 years later, I would be selected to run the global parent company of my father’s small store,” Dacus said in Japanese.”As you all know, recently we have lost some momentum. We have to humbly face the fact that we have lost some market share,” he added through an interpreter.

Asian stocks climbed on Thursday as investors welcomed US President Donald Trump’s auto tariff delay and were expecting China to announce a large stimulus package.The White House announced Wednesday an exemption on any autos coming through the United States, Canada and Mexico free trade pact, after Trump held talks with the “Big Three” US automakers — Stellantis, Ford and General Motors.US automakers have been among the most exposed to Trump’s trade policy, which saw 25 percent blanket tariffs imposed on America’s neighbours earlier this week — with a lower rate for Canadian energy.Wednesday’s tariff delay buoyed global markets and lifted the auto sector, with stocks in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul also rising Thursday.Hong Kong’s stock exchange was up more than three percent.”We have little details on what products the pause will cover — whether this will only apply to finished cars or also automotive parts — but given the exceptional degree of integration across North America for this industrial value chain, the decision is hardly surprising,” said Maeva Cousin of Bloomberg Economics.A global bond selloff also spread to Asia on Thursday as geopolitical sways over the past weeks, including Ukraine peace efforts and trade tariffs, drove benchmark yields upwards.Japanese 10-year yields hit 1.5 percent for the first time in more than a decade while bonds in Australia and New Zealand also saw their yields jump.The selloff was triggered by a sharp rise in German bund yields after Berlin announced on Wednesday plans to massively boost defence spending.- ‘Full confidence’ of hitting 5% -Chinese stocks were also responding well to Beijing announcing its 2025 growth target of around five percent, at the start of its annual meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on Wednesday.China has vowed to make domestic demand its main economic driver despite facing persistent economic headwinds, and as an escalating trade war with the United States hit exports.Beijing also announced a rare hike in fiscal funding, allowing its budget deficit to reach four percent this year.Investors are hoping a huge fiscal stimulus package is coming.China’s central bank chief said Thursday that the country would further cut interest rates in the coming year to boost the economy.And another top Chinese economic official said the government has “full confidence” that it can reach its goal of five percent growth this year.”The commitment to five percent means one thing: more stimulus is coming,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.”China isn’t leaving anything to chance — expect a mix of credit easing, fiscal firepower, and the occasional ‘suggestion’ to state banks to keep the machine humming.”Alibaba was among Hong Kong’s top-performing stocks, with shares surging more than seven percent after the Chinese tech giant launched an artificial intelligence model it says can compete with DeepSeek.Jakarta and Manila were up while Singapore and Wellington rose more modestly, and Sydney, Bangkok and Taipei were slightly down.- Key figures around 0715 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 37,704.93 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 3.00 percent at 24,302.41Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.2 percent at 3,381.10 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at 1.0812 from 1.0790 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2912 from $1.2896  Dollar/yen: DOWN 148.54 from 148.89 yenEuro/pound: UP at 83.73 pence from 83.67 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.6 percent at $66.72 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.6 percent at $69.72 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 1.1 percent at 43,006.59 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 8,755.84 (close)

Japan’s top court said Thursday it had finalised the acquittal of two former executives from the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant charged with professional negligence over the 2011 meltdown.The decision concludes the only criminal trial to arise from the plant’s 2011 tsunami-triggered accident, the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.Ichiro Takekuro and Sakae Muto, formerly vice presidents of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), had been accused of liability for the deaths of more than 40 hospitalised patients, who had to be evacuated following the nuclear disaster.Former chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, who died last year, had also faced the same charges.The men had faced up to five years in prison if convicted.But the Tokyo District Court ruled in 2019 that the men could not have predicted the scale of the tsunami that hit the plant.That verdict was upheld by the Tokyo High Court in 2023, but an appeal was then filed.The Supreme Court on Wednesday “dismissed the prosecutors’ appeals regarding Takekuro and Muto”, a top court spokesman told AFP.”Katsumata’s public prosecution was dismissed in November” after his death, he added.In March 2011, a massive tsunami swamped the Fukushima Daiichi plant on Japan’s northeastern coast after an undersea 9.0-magnitude earthquake, the country’s strongest in recorded history.The tsunami left 18,500 people dead or missing.But no one was recorded as having been directly killed by the nuclear accident, which forced evacuations and left parts of the surrounding area uninhabitable.Despite the non-guilty criminal court verdict, in a July 2022 verdict in a separate civil case, the same three men and another were ordered to pay a whopping 13.3 trillion yen ($90 billion) for failing to prevent the disaster.Lawyers have said the enormous compensation sum was believed to be the largest amount ever awarded in a civil lawsuit in Japan — although they admit that is symbolic, as it is well beyond the defendants’ capacity to pay.

Asian markets climbed on Thursday after US President Donald Trump announced a one-month tariff delay on auto imports from Mexico and Canada.The White House announced Wednesday an exemption on any autos coming through the North American neighbours’ free trade pact, after Trump held talks with the “Big Three” US automakers — Stellantis, Ford and General Motors.US automakers have been among the most exposed to Trump’s trade policy, which saw 25 percent blanket tariffs imposed on Mexico and Canada earlier this week — with a lower rate for Canadian energy.Wednesday’s tariff delay buoyed global markets and lifted the auto sector, with stocks in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul also climbing Thursday morning.”We have little details on what products the pause will cover — whether this will only apply to finished cars or also automotive parts — but given the exceptional degree of integration across North America for this industrial value chain, the decision is hardly surprising,” said Maeva Cousin of Bloomberg Economics.The prospects of wider relief were dampened, however, after Trump said he was unconvinced Canada had done enough to address Washington’s concerns over cross-border fentanyl smuggling.Canada contributes less than one percent of fentanyl to the United States’ illicit supply, according to Canadian and US government data.In Asia, Chinese stocks were also responding well to Beijing announcing its 2025 growth target of around five percent, at the start of its annual meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on Wednesday.Hong Kong jumped as much as 2.6 percent Thursday morning and Shanghai climbed above 0.5 percent.China has vowed to make domestic demand its main economic driver despite facing persistent economic headwinds.It also announced a rare hike in fiscal funding, allowing its budget deficit to reach four percent this year.Investors are hoping a huge fiscal stimulus package will follow, which could be announced at a key NPC economic policy meeting later Thursday. “The commitment to five percent means one thing: more stimulus is coming,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.”China isn’t leaving anything to chance — expect a mix of credit easing, fiscal firepower, and the occasional ‘suggestion’ to state banks to keep the machine humming.”Jakarta and Manila were up while Singapore rose more modestly, and Sydney was down.- Key figures around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.9 percent at 37,773.68Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.4 percent at 24,151.56Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 3,314.84Euro/dollar: UP at 1.0813 from 1.0790 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2902 from $1.2896  Dollar/yen: UP 148.96 from 148.89 yenEuro/pound: UP at 83.80 pence from 83.67 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.7 percent at $66.77 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.7 percent at $69.76 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 1.1 percent at 43,006.59 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 8,755.84 (close)