Tuesday, April 18, 2023

5 things to start your day

Fox News settles defamation case. NATO wants China to play fair over AI. New York, Tokyo have the most millionaires. Here's what you need to

Fox News settles defamation case. NATO wants China to play fair over AI. New York, Tokyo have the most millionaires. Here's what you need to know today.

Heavy Price

Rupert Murdoch's Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a voting machine maker's lawsuit alleging the network defamed it by airing bogus claims that it rigged the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump. The network reached the settlement with Dominion Voting Systems after a jury was selected. According to the suit, Fox hosts including Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity gave guests such as lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell a platform to repeat defamatory statements that Dominion used computer algorithms to shift votes away from Trump to Joe Biden. The payout saves Murdoch and his son Lachlan from having to testify.

Play Fair

NATO wants to strike a deal with China over rules outlining the use of artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies in the military domain, the alliance's chief Jens Stoltenberg said. The organization is pushing to develop shared universal standards for new technologies, following up on an AI strategy agreed among the alliance's members that outlines principles for responsible use. Meanwhile, senior US defense officials warned lawmakers about the growing risks of Chinese military power and the need to accelerate US development of hypersonic weapons.

Richest Cities

New York has again topped the list of the world's wealthiest cities, boasting some 340,000 millionaires last year, according to investment migration firm Henley & Partners. Tokyo grabbed second spot, with 290,300 millionaires, while China boasted five cities in the top 50, and Australia four. The number of millionaires in Singapore — 240,100 — was almost double that of Hong Kong, which boasted 129,500. Five Chinese and four Australian cities made the top 50 rich list.

One More Time

Asian equities were poised for a subdued open after stocks were little changed on Wall Street as investors weighed earnings and comments from Federal Reserve officials. The S&P 500 fluctuated before ending just 0.1% higher. Futures for Hong Kong's benchmark fell 0.3%, while contracts for Japan were little changed. Two-year US yields ended unchanged at 4.20% while the rate on ten-year bonds edged down to 3.58%. Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said he favors raising rates one more time and then holding them above 5% for some time to curb inflation.

Chat Profits

Chip-testing maker Advantest is seeing a spike in demand for its devices, catalyzed by a frenzy of interest in OpenAI's ChatGPT and other novel uses of artificial intelligence. A global race to develop powerful computing clusters and next-generation AI training systems is spurring chipmakers to buy many more of the Tokyo-based company's testing tools, Advantest Co-Chief Strategy Officer Yasuo Mihashi said. The company's shares have surged 36% this year. Meanwhile, Nvidia, which is touted to benefit the most from the AI-frenzy that has gripped Wall Street, has seen shares surge more than 140% from their October low.

What we've been reading

And finally, here's what Garfield's interested in this morning

Federal Reserve St. Louis President James Bullard doesn't vote on policy this year, but his role in implementing last year's steep hikes means his calls for further tightening still carry plenty of weight. Bullard added his voice to others who have expressed skepticism regarding market pricing for rapid rate cuts in anticipation of a recession.

Bond investors themselves are showing some doubts, given the sustained climb in yields this month as banking fears eased and data underscored the resilience of the economy and inflation. With Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse Group fading into the background, financial conditions in the US have moved back into accommodative territory — getting close to the easy levels seen at the opening of this year when the Fed felt the need to push back strongly against the pivot narrative that took hold across markets. That raises the likelihood that Bullard's rhetoric will be followed by further action from the central bank.

Garfield Reynolds is Chief Rates Correspondent for Bloomberg News in Asia, based in Sydney.

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