50 missing after Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years

Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.

1.

Taiwan earthquake: Nine people have died and 50 remain missing after Taiwan suffered its strongest earthquake in at least 25 years. The quake struck at around 8:00am local time (11:00am AEDT) on Wednesday, with a depth of around 35km. The US Geological Survey rated it as a 7.5 magnitude quake. Over 900 people have been injured. The earthquake’s epicentre hit offshore from the country’s mountainous eastern region of Hualien, severely damaging several buildings in the region. Tsunami warnings were initially sent out following the earthquake, however all alerts in the region had been lifted by Wednesday afternoon. Major semiconductor manufacturer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has halted some of its chipmaking and evacuated plants after the earthquake. TSMC is the main contract chipmaker for Apple and Nvidia, raising concerns that a production delay could disrupt the global tech supply chain. (Bloomberg)

2.

EV India: Tesla will scout locations in India for a proposed USD2-$3 billion ($3-$4.5 billion) electric car plant later this month, following New Delhi’s decision to lower tariffs on more expensive imported EVs for companies that commit to local manufacturing within three years. EVs made up around 2% of total car sales in India during 2023, and the government is aiming for that figure to reach 30% by 2030. According to unnamed sources cited by the Financial Times, Tesla will send a US team by late April to assess sites for the plant, focusing specifically on Indian states with existing automotive hubs such as Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Tesla had been pushing for the tariff cut from New Delhi as a pre-condition for investing in the country. According to the FT, Tesla told Indian officials that it is considering building a smaller car in the proposed plant, which would be priced at less than USD30,000. (Financial Times)(Reuters)

3.

Cloud cuts: Amazon’s cloud division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), will cut hundreds of roles across sales, marketing and its team developing tech for brick-and-mortar stores, according to reports confirmed by GeekWire. AWS has “identified a few targeted areas of the organization we need to streamline in order to continue focusing our efforts on the key strategic areas that we believe will deliver maximum impact.” The company has said it will try to find new roles for affected employees. Internal AWS emails seen by GeekWire explain that the company is shifting its focus toward self-serve digital training and training programs run by external partners. “We do not take these decisions lightly, and I know change can be difficult,” wrote Matt Garman, AWS senior vice president. “We operate in an incredibly fast-moving industry, and it is important that we stay agile as an organization.” (GeekWire)(Bloomberg)

4.

Disney triumph: Disney has won the proxy vote at its highly anticipated annual meeting which brought activist investor Nelson Peltz head-to-head with Disney CEO Bob Iger. The results of the vote were announced at Disney’s 2024 annual meeting of shareholders, which was held virtually at 4:00am (AEDT) this morning. In a statement published after the vote, Disney said its full slate of 12 directors has been elected by a substantial margin over the nominees of Trian and Blackwells. The vote brings an end to the months-long proxy fight waged by Peltz’ Trian Partners hedge fund. Iger added: “With the distracting proxy contest now behind us, we’re eager to focus 100% of our attention on our most important priorities: growth and value creation for our shareholders and creative excellence for our consumers.” (Disney press release)

5.

Ukraine funding: Nato is planning a USD100 billion military aid program for Ukraine despite US concerns over parts of the proposal that aims to ‘Trump-proof’ western support. Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has backed the proposal that would see the Nato alliance oversee a five-year support plan for the country, and to take over management of the Ramstein Group which was set up by the US to co-ordinate military supplies to Kyiv. The US has requested more information about Stoltenberg’s proposal and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has expressed concerns about the fund, underscoring the country’s position of avoiding any moves that could give the alliance a more direct role in supporting Kyiv. (Financial Times)

6.

Rates watch: US Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, has said that the central bank’s job of bringing down inflation was “not yet done” and that the Fed needs “greater confidence” that price pressures are easing before it will cut interest rates. Speaking at Stanford University’s Business School on Wednesday, he said that recent data which shows a strong labour market and sticky inflation does not materially change the overall picture. He added that it is simply too soon to say whether recent inflation readings indicate more than a mere bump. Powell reiterated his expectation that that it will likely be appropriate to begin lowering rates “at some point this year.” (Bloomberg)

7.

Payroll surge: US private payrolls increased more than expected in March, the biggest monthly gain since July. Adding 183,000 jobs, the gains surpassed the upwardly revised 155,000 February figure and the 148,000 jobs that Reuters had predicted. Wage growth for US job-changers also increased to 10% in March from 7.6% the month prior, while the pace of those who remained in their jobs stayed flat at 5.1%. Construction payrolls increased by 33,000 jobs, but the professional and business services sector contracted by 8,000 positions. (Financial Times)(Reuters)

8.

Diversity data: A report into diversity on Australian company boards shows a sharp decline in the number of women holding board seats over the past 12 months. Between 2022 and 2023, female representation on smaller Australian company boards fell from 44% in 2022 to just 32% last year. The Governance Institute of Australia and Watermark Search International’s 2024 Board Diversity Index found that while the representation of women on ASX 300 boards has risen to 36% in 2024 (up from 35% in 2023), 13 of the top ASX 300 boards have no female directors. In positive news, boards are progressing toward achieving the 40:40:20 rule by 2030, where boards are 40% female, 40% male and 20% of any gender. This year 123 boards (41%) hit the 40:40:20 target. (Capital Brief)