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Dovish 1. Bank of Japan member Asahi Noguchi: Given the uncertain economic outlook, the Bank of Japan should refrain from adjusting interest rates and should closely monitor economic developments. 2. Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida: We must pay attention to downside risks facing Japans economy and prices, and the Bank of Japan must currently support the economy through accommodative monetary policy. Neutral 1. Bank of Japan member Kazuyuki Masuda: We do not strongly disagree with the view that Japans overall inflation has not yet reached 2%; considering various economic risks, the Bank of Japan should not rush to raise interest rates. 2. Bank of Japan member Junko Koeda: Given the current high level of uncertainty, it is not appropriate to discuss the specific timing of the next rate hike. We need to closely monitor the economy, inflation, and financial markets before making a decision. 3. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda: If the economy and prices develop as expected, we will not change our stance on raising interest rates. We will carefully examine whether the economy and prices meet our forecasts without preconceived views. 4. Bank of Japan member Junko Nakagawa: If the outlook for economic activity and prices is realized, the Bank of Japan will continue to raise the policy rate. We will make appropriate monetary policy decisions through continuous and prudent data assessment. 5. Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Yoshizo Himino: If the economy and prices perform as expected, the Bank of Japan is expected to gradually raise interest rates. As for the timing of rate hikes, we can only say that we hope to ensure that they are not raised too early or too late. Hawkish 1. Bank of Japan board member Hajime Takada: The Bank of Japan has only paused its rate hike cycle for now and should continue to adjust and shift after a period of observation. The Bank of Japan needs to return to a rate hike cycle in a flexible manner. 2. Bank of Japan board member Naoki Tamura: We are likely to achieve our inflation target earlier than expected. Even if uncertainty about US tariffs persists, the Bank of Japan may still need to raise interest rates decisively to address inflation risks.Gold prices fell for a third consecutive day on September 19th as traders grew more cautious about the prospect of Federal Reserve rate cuts and a stronger dollar curbed the precious metals recent gains. Gold prices are now about $70 below Wednesdays all-time high, which was driven to a record high by the Feds 25 basis point rate cut. Gold prices subsequently retreated after Fed Chairman Powells comments on the path of monetary policy were more hawkish than expected, stating that officials would take a "meeting-by-meeting" approach to further easing. Looking ahead, attacks on the Feds independence from the US government could further fuel golds gains. Governor Lisa Cook is embroiled in a legal dispute with President Trump, who sought to fire her over mortgage fraud allegations. Government economic advisor Stephen Milan, who was quickly appointed to fill a temporary vacancy at the Fed, was the only member of the board who dissented from the 25 basis point rate cut at Wednesdays meeting, favoring a 50 basis point cut instead.On September 19th, as market expectations for a Bank of Japan (BoJ) interest rate hike grew, prices for two-year government bonds, sensitive to monetary policy expectations, fell, pushing the yield up 0.5 basis points to 0.885%, the highest level since 2008. The BoJ will announce its interest rate decision later today, with the market generally expecting it to remain unchanged. Investors are closely watching for any clues regarding a September or December rate hike. Uncertainty over tariff policy and the political risks posed by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishibas announced resignation plan complicate the BoJs decision-making environment. However, according to sources familiar with the matter, BoJ officials believe that despite political uncertainty, another benchmark rate hike is still possible this year given that economic development is in line with expectations. According to an institutional survey, most BoJ observers expect a rate hike before January, while the proportion favoring a hike next month has slightly decreased following Ishibas resignation. Overnight index swaps indicate that the market is pricing in a roughly 65% probability of a BoJ rate hike before the end of the year.The yield on 40-year Japanese government bonds fell 1.5 basis points to 3.420%.On September 19th, Jinfang Pharmaceutical-B (2595.HK) officially listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The stock opened sharply higher in early trading at HK$44, a 115.79% surge from its IPO price of HK$20.4. Based on a 200-share board lot, excluding commissions, the book profit per board lot reached HK$4,722. This strong IPO performance was foreshadowed. In the previous trading days grey market, Jinfang Pharmaceutical-B closed up 110.10% at HK$42.84, with a book profit of HK$4,490 per board lot.

Microsoft Will Lay off 10,000 Workers, Adding to IT's Excess of Layoffs

Haiden Holmes

Jan 19, 2023 10:59

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Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) stated on Wednesday that it will remove 10,000 employees and take a $1.2 billion loss against profits as cloud-computing clients rethink spending and the business prepares for a potential recession.


The layoffs are in addition to the tens of thousands that have been reported over the past few months in the IT industry, which has retreated after a period of tremendous expansion during the epidemic.


The announcement comes as the software company plans to raise expenditure on generative artificial intelligence, the emerging bright spot in the industry.


CEO Satya Nadella sought to address the varied outlooks for several business divisions in an internal message to staff.


Customers wished to "optimize their digital expenditures to do more with less" and "exercise prudence since certain sections of the world are experiencing a recession and others are expecting one," he stated. Simultaneously, AI advancements are spawning the next major wave of computing.


The layoffs, which will affect fewer than 5 percent of Microsoft's staff, will be completed by the end of March, with notification commencing on Wednesday.


Microsoft would continue to employ in "key areas," he said. AI is likely one of these disciplines. This week, Nadella introduced AI to a gathering of world leaders in Davos, Switzerland, stating that the technology will alter Microsoft's products and have a global influence.


Microsoft has contemplated raising its $1 billion bet in OpenAI, the firm behind the ChatGPT craze in Silicon Valley, which Microsoft will shortly offer as a cloud service.


The closing price for shares of the Redmond, Washington-based corporation decreased by 2% on Wednesday.


Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), a rival in the retail and cloud-computing industries, began notifying its own 18,000 employees of layoffs on Wednesday.


Amazon indicated in an internal message that impacted employees in the United States, Canada, and Costa Rica will be informed by day's end. The Chinese staff will be notified following the Chinese New Year.


Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), the parent company of Facebook, has announced the termination of 11,000 employees, while Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Inc has announced the removal of 10% of its 80,000-person staff.


More than 97,000 job cutbacks were reported in the IT business in 2022, the highest since 131,000 layoffs were revealed in 2002, according to the outplacement agency Challenger, Gray & Christmas.


"We haven't seen this amount of activity since the dot-com disaster," said Andrew Challenger, the company's senior vice president.


According to an update on the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) page for Washington State, Microsoft will lay off 878 full-time employees at its Redmond headquarters. The legislation requires the majority of U.S. firms to report mass layoffs impacting 50 or more employees at a single site.

CLOUD GROWTH DECLINING

According to some experts, Microsoft's billion-dollar penalty would cut the company's second fiscal quarter profit by 12 cents per share and may have consequences outside the technology sector.


Brian Frank, a portfolio manager at Frank Funds who has owned Microsoft shares periodically over the past many years, stated, "This is one of the marquee growth firms with a very distinct user base indicating that economic conditions may not be as favorable as we anticipated."


According to Nadella, the charge is the result of severance fees, as well as changes to Microsoft's hardware lineup and lease consolidation to create more dense workplaces.


Microsoft declined to comment on the hardware modifications or whether any product lines will be discontinued.


In recent years, Microsoft's cloud sales have surged due to an increase in corporate demand for online data hosting and cloud computing. However, growth dropped to 35% in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023, and the business forecasts further slowing. It was reported in July of last year that a few posts had been cut.

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