World

AMAZON.COM Inc. is cutting 16,000 corporate jobs in an effort to remove layers of bureaucracy and “increase ownership,” becoming the latest company to target managers for layoffs in recent years. 

The tech firm will offer US-based employees 90 days to search for a new role internally, as well as severance and other transition support, Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology said Wednesday in a blog post.

“We’ve been working to strengthen our organization by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy,” Galetti said. She said it’s “not our plan” to announce broad staff cuts every few months and said the company would continue to “make adjustments as appropriate.” 

Companies across industries have been trimming management layers in the name of becoming leaner and more productive. Last year, Microsoft Corp. cut thousands of workers with a focus on reducing management; Nissan Group of North America cut 20% of its top management positions; and Amtrak similarly targeted roughly 20% of its own top-level management. 

Just as Amazon was announcing its own layoffs, the chip-making machine giant ASML Holding NV said it’s eliminating 1,700 positions largely targeting managerial roles. 

The reductions take Amazon’s announced job cuts to 30,000 in three months after an initial wave in October. Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy has repeatedly said he’s determined to cut management layers that began to concern executives after a pandemic-era hiring binge. Last year, he also warned employees that AI will shrink the workforce as Amazon automates more of its operations. 

While the company employed about 1.57 million people as of Sept. 30, most of them work in warehouses. The corporate workforce comprises about 350,000 personnel, meaning the latest cuts represent about 4.6% of that headcount.

Employees were informed about the cuts earlier on Wednesday, though some had been given a heads up that they were coming. Amazon Senior Vice President Colleen Aubrey prematurely scheduled a meeting titled “Project Dawn” that referred to “impacted colleagues” based in the US, Canada and Costa Rica. The email, which said “changes like this are hard on everyone,” quickly spread on internal message boards and social media sites like Reddit where workers were discussing the anticipated job cuts. 

A number of tech companies have started the year by announcing layoffs. Meta Platforms Inc. said it would eliminate more than 1,000 jobs from its Reality Labs division to redirect resources to AI wearables and phone features. Pinterest Inc. said Tuesday that it plans to cut “less than 15%” of its workforce and will reduce office space, also in an effort to shift resources toward AI. Autodesk Inc. said it will cut about 1,000 positions.  –BLOOMBERG

The post Amazon to cut 16,000 corporate positions to trim bureaucracy appeared first on The Malaysian Reserve.

ARABICA coffee paused its rally as traders weighed the prospects of being well-supplied later this year against any near-term tightness. 

The most-active contract slumped as much as 2.9% to $3.568 a ton, breaking a five-day winning streak.

A sharp depreciation of the dollar against the Brazilian real had prompted some producers in the top grower to hold back supply in recent weeks. The stronger real has discouraged exports at a time when the country’s sales are running behind last year’s pace.

Still, the South American nation expects a larger crop in the upcoming 2026-27 season, which is harvested starting May.

“The price action yesterday felt driven by speculators and not the fundamental picture on the ground,” said Harry Howard, a soft commodities broker at Sucden Financial. There’s therefore a “higher chance of pullbacks on the sharp rally.” –BLOOMBERG

The post Arabica halts rally as market mulls prospect of ample supplies appeared first on The Malaysian Reserve.

THE euro’s ascent to its strongest level since 2021 is creating a problem for the European Central Bank.

Driven largely by dollar weakness, the common currency pushed through the closely watched $1.20 level this week and options markets suggest more gains are coming. Short-term bets are near their most euro-bullish since April, while longer-dated pricing is the most positive in almost six years.

The stronger euro could push the central bank into a difficult spot. Currency strength might slow the pace of price increases, eventually spurring officials to ease policy to keep inflation on track. According to some analysts, it may also put a spotlight on calls for the euro to play a beefed-up global role.

“One of the threats to the neutral ECB policy outlook has been the stronger euro,” said Chris Turner, head of foreign-exchange strategy at ING Bank NV. He added that recent price action “suggests the doves at the ECB might be right to worry that a stronger euro could see the ECB missing its inflation target to the downside.”

For now, there are signs the rally will continue. Macro investors and hedge funds have added sizable bullish euro options positions this week, according to FX traders familiar with the transactions, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly. Data from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation shows that roughly one in 10 euro options traded over the past week targets a move above $1.25 by the end of June.

The common currency could rise to “$1.25-$1.30 given time,” said Steven Barrow, head of G-10 strategy at Standard Bank. That would require a stronger economy in Europe and a tsunami of inflows into its assets, he added, suggesting US trade threats and Chinese export redirection might combine to galvanize the region into action.

At the ECB, there are signs that policymakers are closely monitoring the currency. 

Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau, while reiterating that officials don’t have any target for the exchange rate, said the impact of euro appreciation will be considered when setting policy. Prior to President Donald Trump’s comments about dollar weakness on Tuesday — which gave a further boost to the euro — Austrian central bank governor Martin Kocher said that the ECB must keep an eye on any further euro strength.

Last year, European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said an advance in the euro beyond $1.20 could prove tricky for policymakers.

What happens next is key, according to Valentin Marinov, head of FX strategy at Credit Agricole. If the euro’s strength is not accompanied by a rotation of capital back into European stocks and bonds, the central bank could see appreciation as a problem. In the meantime, the episode may also put a focus on efforts to promote the euro as an alternative to the dollar.

“I would not be surprised if next week Madame Lagarde qualifies her call for a global euro with a growing focus on recent aggressive EUR/USD gains,” said Marinov. “In a way, the ECB should be careful what they’ve wished for,” he added.

Still, not every observer expects the currency’s strength to affect monetary policy.

“While policymakers may lean against rapid euro appreciation verbally, translating that into policy action would be difficult when domestic fundamentals are supporting a stronger currency,” said Laura Cooper, global investment strategist and head of macro credit at Nuveen. A shift toward rate-cutting guidance would require core inflation and broader inflation expectations to fall “decisively” below 2%, she added.

The size and speed of the currency moves may also play a role. 

“As long as disordered moves are avoided, we do not think a stronger euro will have the dovish influence it had at the beginning of 2025,” said Roberto Cobo Garcia, head of FX strategy at BBVA in Madrid.  –BLOOMBERG

The post Euro rally to US$1.20 spurs buying and a headache for the ECB appeared first on The Malaysian Reserve.

ASML Holding NV said it will cut about 1,700 jobs in the middle of a sales boom as part of a broad move to kill layers of management and become less bureaucratic.

The reductions, amounting to about 4% of staff, will largely affect managerial positions in ASML’s IT and tech departments, Chief Executive Officer Christophe Fouquet said in a statement on Wednesday as part of the company’s fourth-quarter financial results. Most of the cuts will be in the Netherlands with other job reductions in the US. 

Customers and employees told the Dutch company that it was getting too complex and risked becoming inefficient, Chief Financial Officer Roger Dassen said in a call with reporters. “We want to make sure engineers can be engineers again.” Dassen said it was the first workforce reduction at this scale in “many years” and the company declined to be more specific. 

There are about 4,500 managers in ASML’s tech unit and the company wants to convert a large chunk of those positions into engineering roles instead, Fouquet said during a press conference. “We want to have more engineers and less leadership,” he said.

The company does not consider the restructuring costs as “material,” Dassen said at the press conference.

ASML’s shares gained 5.8% to €1,288.80 at 12:35 p.m. in Amsterdam. The stock earlier rose as much as 7.5% to a record after the company reported bookings in the fourth quarter that were far better than analysts’ expectations and forecast sales would continue to grow in 2026. 

The cuts contrast with ASML’s robust outlook. The company’s customers, the world’s biggest chipmakers, are optimistic about continued AI-related demand and expanding capacity, stoking ASML’s orders in turn. ASML is the only producer of cutting-edge lithography machines that are needed to make advanced semiconductors, and has benefited from the hundreds of billions of dollars pouring into artificial intelligence infrastructure. 

“We are doing great, and we are very happy with that, but even a great company needs to improve,” said Fouquet in an interview with Bloomberg TV, adding that the company wanted to be more “agile.”

ASML said it will reorganize its Technology business so that engineers will be dedicated to a specific product and module. 

It will also create new engineering jobs, as well as roles in manufacturing, customer support and sales. 

ASML is planning a second campus in Eindhoven, in line with customer demand. It intends to develop an area about five miles away from its Veldhoven headquarters with capacity for 20,000 staff, ASML had said. The first phase of the expansion is expected to be completed by 2028. –BLOOMBERG

The post ASML plans to cut 1,700 jobs to reduce management layers appeared first on The Malaysian Reserve.

GENEVA — UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said nearly two and a half years of Israeli attacks on education in Gaza have placed an entire generation at risk, the Palestine News and Info Agency (WAFA) reported.

Speaking at the United Nations regular midweek press briefing in Geneva, he announced that the organisation is working to expand education in the Gaza Strip as part of one of the largest emergency education efforts in the world.

Elder warned that 60 per cent of school-age children in Gaza are currently not receiving in-person education, noting that 90 per cent of schools have been damaged or destroyed.

He recalled that before the war, Palestinians in Gaza had some of the highest literacy rates in the world, and that education was a source of pride, resilience, and progress for generations.

The UN official said that this legacy is now under severe attack, with schools, universities, and libraries destroyed and years of progress erased. He stressed that this is not only physical destruction but an assault on the future itself.

The latest United Nations assessment based on satellite imagery from July found that at least 97 per cent of schools have sustained damage.

Elder said UNICEF will expand its back-to-learning programme to reach 336,000 children, stressing that the immediate priority is to return children to education without delay, often through tents in communities and community centres, as they cannot wait for permanent buildings to be constructed.

He emphasised that learning saves lives, noting that UNICEF’s education centres provide safe spaces in areas that are often dangerous and insecure.

He added that these centres restore access to vital information, provide routine for children, connect girls and boys to health, nutrition, and protection services, and include proper toilets and handwashing facilities.

Elder said most of the educational facilities supported by UNICEF will be located in central and southern Gaza, as access to the north remains extremely difficult due to the extensive destruction suffered in recent months. — BERNAMA-WAFA

The post UNICEF warns Israeli attacks on education in Gaza have put an entire generation at risk appeared first on The Malaysian Reserve.

GOLD surged to a record high above $5,280 an ounce, extending a breakneck rally fueled by US dollar weakness and a flight from sovereign bonds and currencies.

Bullion rose as much as 2% on Wednesday, building on a 3.4% jump in the previous session — its biggest one-day gain since April. President Donald Trump said he was not concerned about a drop in the value of the dollar that has dragged the world’s premier reserve currency to its weakest level in nearly four years.

That decline, combined with heightened geopolitical risks and investor flight from currencies and Treasuries, has sparked a wave of investment demand in precious metals. Gold has gained around 22% since the beginning of the year, smashing through $5,000 an ounce for the first time this week. In the same period, silver has surged roughly 60%.

A massive selloff in the Japanese bond market is the latest example of concerns over heavy fiscal spending, while speculation the US may intervene to support the yen has weighed on the dollar, making precious metals cheaper for most buyers. A gauge of the US currency fell 1.1% on Tuesday, its biggest one-day drop since April.

Trump told reporters in Iowa on Tuesday that the dollar was “doing great” and he expected currency values to fluctuate. “No, I think it’s great,” he told reporters when asked if he was worried about losses in the currency.

The Trump administration’s actions — threats to annex Greenland and military intervention in Venezuela, as well as renewed attacks on the Federal Reserve’s independence — have also unsettled markets in recent weeks. The US leader has pledged to hike tariffs on South Korean goods and to impose 100% levies on Canada if Ottawa reaches a trade deal with China.

Meanwhile, bond traders are ramping up bets on a dovish policy shift at the Fed on the expectations that BlackRock Inc. Chief Investment Officer Rick Rieder will succeed Jerome Powell as chair. The Wall Street veteran has advocated for an aggressive approach to lower borrowing costs. A lower rate environment benefits precious metals, which don’t pay interest.

Expectations of a more dovish and less independent Fed, as well as geopolitical risks, “are likely driving more rapid allocations to gold, led by retail investors,” Suki Cooper, global head of commodities research at Standard Chartered Plc, said in a note. “Barring short-term corrections, we continue to see further upside risk.”

Gold’s rally has also been driven by elevated central-bank buying and inflows to bullion-backed exchange-traded funds. Its appeal is also showing up in positioning data, with options traders bracing for further gains in a market where few are willing to bet against the rally. Implied volatility on Comex futures climbed to the highest since the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

Even crypto giants have joined the rally: Tether Holdings SA is now the world’s largest known hoard of bullion outside of banks and nation states, having quietly become a major player in the global market over the past year. The company holds around 140 tons of gold, most of which are its own reserves, Chief Executive Officer Paolo Ardoino told Bloomberg News in an interview.

Silver rose as much as 3.6% to close in on a record high above $117 an ounce hit on Monday. CME Group is raising margins on Comex silver futures from Wednesday’s close, while China’s only pure-play silver fund halted trading earlier in the day. The UBS SDIC Silver Futures Fund LOF also paused new subscriptions after repeated warnings that its current premium over Shanghai Futures Exchange silver contracts is “unsustainable.”

Gold rose 2% to $5,282.01 an ounce as of 3:31 p.m. in Singapore. Silver climbed 2.1% to $114.38 an ounce. Platinum and palladium advanced, while the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was up 0.2% on Wednesday but down 1.4% for the week. — BLOOMBERG

The post Gold hits record above US$5,280 as Trump dollar comments aid rally appeared first on The Malaysian Reserve.

BRUSSELS — The Swedish government announced plans to lower the age of criminal responsibility, allowing 13-year-olds to be sentenced to prison for the most serious offences, including murder, aggravated bombings, aggravated weapons offences and aggravated rape.

According to Anadolu Ajansi, the law, set to take effect in July, will initially apply for five years, Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said at a press conference Monday, according to the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter.

Under the legislation, a 13-year-old convicted of murder could face 1-3 years in prison while a 14-year-old could face 3-4 years, with courts retaining discretion in individual cases.

“We are not talking about a general reduction but a reduction for the most serious crime,” Strommer said, adding that attempts, preparation and abetment of such crimes will also be included.

Less severe offences, such as transporting a weapon, will primarily result in youth supervision.

The government’s proposal also includes changes for older teenagers.

The penalty discount for 15-17-year-olds would be reduced, while the maximum sentence for 15-17-year-olds would increase from 14 to 18 years. Life imprisonment will remain unavailable.

“It’s about protecting society,” the minister said.

The plans have faced criticism from Sweden’s Prison and Probation Service, police and the Prosecution Authority, who warned of potential risks.

Strommer said the government carefully evaluated these concerns but concluded that inaction posed greater risks. — BERNAMA-ANADOLU

The post Sweden plans to lower age of criminal responsibility to 13 for serious crimes appeared first on The Malaysian Reserve.

ANZ Group Holdings Ltd. plans to bring its Singapore staff together under one roof in the second half of the year, combining employees from two offices in a new city-center location, according to people familiar with the matter.

ANZ is making the move to the Marina One complex because its existing lease at Ocean Financial Centre is set to expire soon, according to a separate memo viewed by Bloomberg News. As such, the Australian bank aims for the new shared workspace “to better support how we work today and into the future,” it said.

ANZ joins other banks in the city-state grappling with conflicting goals of trying to reduce office costs while at the same time seeking to keep premier city-center spaces which have long been preferred by financial and technological giants. The resulting steady demand and a lack of significant new supply have kept occupancies relatively high.

The consolidation is also a departure from the strategy of other banks which have favored cutting city-center space while moving back-end staff to cheaper, less central locations.

ANZ’s existing Ocean Financial Centre location spans two floors and hosts front-office employees, with back-office staff at Mapletree Business City near the country’s southern waterfront, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing private information. ANZ did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

Marina One and Ocean Financial Centre are both located in the city center, with the former boasting two office towers held in a joint venture by Singapore and Malaysia state investors Temasek Holdings Pte and Khazanah Nasional Bhd. Both office developments have similar base rental rates, but negotiations often lead to lower offers.

Ocean Financial Centre is majority-owned by Keppel REIT, while Mapletree Business City is owned by another Singapore-listed real estate investment trust, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust. Spokespeople for both REITs declined to comment.

ANZ joins Bank of New York Mellon Corp. which is moving to Marina One from its current location in Millenia Tower. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Macquarie Group Ltd are among the other banks with offices already at the development. –BLOOMBERG

The post ANZ to combine staff in single location in Singapore office move appeared first on The Malaysian Reserve.

THE dollar sank, deepening a four-day selloff that’s sent it to the lowest since early 2022, after President Donald Trump indicated he’s comfortable with those declines.

“No, I think it’s great,” Trump told reporters in Iowa on Tuesday when asked if he was worried about the currency’s drop. “I think the value of the dollar — look at the business we’re doing. The dollar’s doing great.”

Trump’s comments added fuel to what was already the dollar’s deepest drop since his tariff rollout sent markets into a tailspin last year and fanned fears that his erratic policy shifts would drive overseas investors to pull back from the US. After his comments Tuesday, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index hit a new session low, falling as much as 1.2%, as the US currency weakened against all of its major counterparts. 

The president’s statements were seen as giving a green-light to traders to sell the dollar by indicating that the administration is in favor of a weaker dollar to help boost exports.

Win Thin, chief economist at Bank of Nassau, said Trump “invited another round of selling” that will trigger further dollar declines.

“Many in the Trump cabinet want a weaker dollar in order to make exports more competitive,” he said. They’re “taking a calculated risk. A weaker currency can be nice until things get disorderly.”

Some of the decline in the dollar had been caused by the abrupt rebound in the yen since last week, as traders braced for a potential intervention by Japanese officials to prop up that nation’s currency. 

But the dollar’s drop has also been fanned by Trump’s unpredictable policymaking, which has rattled overseas allies and investors: His threats to take over Greenland; his pressure on the Federal Reserve; tax cuts that deepened the deficit; and a leadership style that’s deepened US political polarization.

The dollar’s recent drop has come despite a rise in government bond yields and expectations that the Fed is poised to pause its interest-rate cuts at Wednesday’s meeting — both of which would traditionally have been seen as supportive of the currency. Instead, investors have poured into rival stores of value like gold, sending it to record highs, in what’s becoming known as the debasement trade. 

For years Trump has held competing views on the dollar, touting its strength as a way to preserve an edge in bilateral negotiations while also talking up the benefits of a weak greenback for the manufacturing sector. “I’m the person that likes a strong dollar, but a weak dollar makes you a hell of a lot more money,” he said last year.

On Tuesday, Trump suggested he could manipulate the strength of the dollar, saying “I could have it go up or go down like a yo yo.” But he cast that as an unfavorable outcome, likening it to hiring unneeded workers to juice employment numbers and criticized Asian economies he said tried to devalue their currencies.

“If you look at China and Japan, I used to fight like hell with them, because they always wanted to devalue their yen. You know that? The yen and the yuan, and they’d always want to devalue it. They devalue, devalue, devalue,” Trump said Tuesday. 

“And I said, not fair that you devalue, because it’s hard to compete when they devalue. But they always fought, no our dollar’s great,” he added. –BLOOMBERG

The post Trump deepens dollar woes, saying he’s not concerned about slump appeared first on The Malaysian Reserve.

INVESTORS are on guard for the risk of another meltdown in Japan’s bond market on Wednesday when the government sells 40-year notes, a tenor that has proved vulnerable to sharp swings.  

The auction comes about a week after Japanese bond yields soared to record highs on Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s plan to remove the sales tax on food for two years. The 40-year rate surged more than 25 basis points last Tuesday, hitting its highest since its debut.

“Headline risk related to fiscal policy could increase further,” said Barclays Securities’ strategists Ayao Ehara and Shinichiro Kadota in a note. “If such concerns re‑emerge, upward pressure on yields similar to last week’s move cannot be ruled out. Given this risk of a sharp rise in yields, lackluster auction results appear likely.”

A weak auction may trigger renewed selling of longer-maturity bonds, which in turn could put pressure on the yen. This may increase speculation of official intervention in the foreign-exchange markets to support the Japanese currency.

While bonds have rebounded since last week’s rout, investors are bracing for more volatility to come ahead of Japan’s Feb. 8 snap vote. Japan’s largest opposition party, the Centrist Reform Alliance, has pledged a permanent tax cut on food, fueling concerns that fiscal discipline will weaken regardless of the outcome.

“It’s not a good environment for the auction,” said Naoya Hasegawa, chief bond strategist at Okasan Securities Co. “With the election outcome and the direction of the food tax cut still unclear, the uncertainty is likely to drive a more cautious stance among investors.”

Meanwhile, the yen is now hovering around its strongest level since October after comments from Japanese officials fueled speculation that the government may intervene in the market to prevent the currency from resuming its slide. Takaichi sent a fresh warning on Sunday that the government will be ready to take action amid a weakening yen and surging bond yields. 

Figuring out how to get past the election without markets blowing up is causing headaches for Takaichi’s government and the Bank of Japan, according to a Finance Ministry official familiar with the matter. The leader’s approval ratings saw a slight dip in several recent polls, pointing to the riskiness of her decision to call the surprise vote.

Katsutoshi Inadome, a senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management Co., says that the auction on Wednesday may pass through smoothly given the high yield levels on the 40-year bond, but that it won’t be particularly strong given the fiscal concerns.

Auctions of 10- and 30-year bonds next week will also serve as key tests of investor appetite for longer-maturity debt.

“Concerns over the food tax cut have heightened caution regarding all of the government bond auctions scheduled during the election period,” said Ataru Okumura, a senior interest-rate strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities. –BLOOMBERG

The post Japan’s 40-year bond sale to test fragile debt market, weak yen appeared first on The Malaysian Reserve.