
Hong Kong Dollar Falls Toward Weak End of Band on Carry Allure
The Hong Kong dollar edged closer to the weak end of its trading range as sliding local interest rates encouraged traders to increase their borrowing of the currency to fund carry trades.
The local dollar slipped to as low as 7.8294 to the greenback, approaching the limit of its allowed band at 7.85. The currency has fallen almost 1% in May to head for the biggest one-month decline since it was pegged to its US peer in 1983.
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CNN
15 minutes ago
- CNN
Japan-based company is poised for its moon-landing attempt
Update: Date: Title: Ispace's CEO is "very confident" success is on the way Content: Takeshi Hakamada, who founded Ispace in 2010 and serves as the company's CEO, told CNN last month that he is far more optimistic about today's landing attempt than he was going into Ispace's first landing attempt in 2023. 'I'm very confident, more confident than (during) Mission 1,' Hakamada told CNN in May. Hakamada added that he's not a very emotional person, so cold feet and sleepless nights aren't necessarily part of his pre-landing routine. 'I'm not the person emotion so much. I don't feel any peace or joy sometimes — most of the times,' Hakamada, who says he was inspired to puruse an aerospace career by the 'Star Wars' movies, told CNN. 'The importance of this space business is keep going.' Update: Date: Title: Reslience is carrying science — and art Content: Tucked alongside a molecule-splitting science experiment and radiation monitor, Resilience is carrying a couple lighthearted pieces of commemorative art. One includes commemorative coin-sized plates designed by UNESCO and US-based Barrelhand that will 'transport and safeguard 275 distinct languages and cultural treasures on the lunar surface.' Another is from Swedish artist Mikael Genberg, who contributed a miniature red house dubbed the 'Moonhouse.' Genberg has been aiming to put a red house on the lunar surface for more than two decades. 'They wanted to send something to the moon, so there was a good coincidence,' Ispace chief financial officer Jumpei Nozaki told CNN in January, noting that Ispace's European branch in Luxembourg found out about the art piece and worked to put it on the Resilience lander. The pieces may join a slew of other novelties, art pieces and curiosities that have been part of past lunar missions. A Jeff Koons sculpture series called 'Moon Phases,' for example, flew on the Odysseus lunar lander from Houston-based Intuitive Machines last year, becoming the first 'authorized' work of art on the moon. The Moonhouse on board Resilience aims to be an 'expression of humanity's ability to achieve the seemingly unattainable through boundary-crossing thoughts and collaborations and maybe a symbol of humanity's eternal and collective striving; a perspective on existence and (an) eye towards Earth,' according to a web page about the art project. Update: Date: Title: Here's how (another) failed landing attempt could affect Ispace Content: Ispace's roots began in the Google Lunar XPrize, which in the 2010s challenged the private-sector to put robotic landers on the moon for a $20 million grand prize. The compeititon ended in 2018, however, with no winner. 'That was very good program for me to start things here,' Ispace CEO and founder Takeshi Hakamada told CNN in May. 'We survived the Lunar XPrize and and then that created credibility for the next fundraising (effort).' After the competition folded, Ispace kept going, bringing on new investors. And just before its first lunar landing attempt in 2023, the company went public, listing on Tokyo's stock exchange. When Ispace's first landing attempt failed in 2023, crashing to the moon due to a software issue, the company's stock price shed more than half its value. And Ispace could face some significant financial struggles if today's landing attempt is unsuccessful, Ispace chief financial officer Jumpei Nozaki told CNN in January. 'If we do not successfully land on the moon, maybe there are going to be some very strong headwinds against us. It will be reflected to our share price immediately,' Nozaki said. Still, Nozaki added, the company raised money last year around the world, including from one US investor, that should keep the company funded through a third lunar landing attempt. Update: Date: Title: Resilience is aiming to land farther north than other recent missions Content: We're in the midst of renewed space race, with both the public and private sector eager to send robots to further explore the lunar surface. The modern moon dash was largely kicked off by China, which safely landed its first Chang'e spacecraft in 2013 — roughly 40 years after any vehicle, crewed or uncrewed, had soft-landed on the lunar surface. Much of the lunar exploration focus has been on the south pole, as the region is expected to be home to vast stores of water ice that can be converted to drinking water or fuel for rockets. But the vehicles that have made soft landings so far have explored a variety of regions. Update: Date: Title: Soft landing on the moon is still really hard. Here's why Content: All lunar landing attempts — even missions such as this with no humans on board — bring with them an element of risk and awe. Success is far from guaranteed. Overall, more than half of all lunar landing attempts have ended in failure, tough odds for a feat humanity first pulled off nearly 60 years ago. While technology has advanced in the past five decades, the fundamental challenges of landing on the moon remain the same. Here's what Resilience has had to overcome — and what it has yet to face. Update: Date: Title: What went wrong during Ispace's last lunar landing attempt Content: Ispace's first lunar lander, referred to by its model name, Hakuto-R, made a dramatic crash landing on the moon in 2023. When the estimated landing time came and went, and mission controllers had spent about 10 minutes troubleshooting why the lander hadn't sent a signal, it was safe to assume the golf-cart-size vehicle had not made a gentle touchdown, Ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada, told CNN. A NASA satellite later photographed the crash site. Ispace then spent weeks poring over the data, trying to pinpoint what went wrong. 'Almost everything performed perfectly — propulsion system, communication system, and also structure,' Ispace chief financial officer Jumpei Nozaki told CNN in January about the first Hakuto-R mission. 'The issue was the software and the altitude measurement has some issue.' Essentially, Hakuto-R had miscalculated its altitude, and the vehicle ended up running out of fuel before touching down on the surface. This time around, executives are far more confident. A software patch is in place. And mission controllers are hoping to get confirmation of a smooth touchdown within a minute or so after the 3:17 p.m. ET expected landing time. Update: Date: Title: Here's what to expect during today's moon-landing attempt Content: Resilience, a spacecraft built by Tokyo-based Ispace that could redeem the company after a failed moon-landing attempt in 2023, is ready to make its final descent to the lunar surface. Ispace has broken down its mission in to series of 10 goals or anticipated 'successes.' Resilience has already notched through the first eight of those steps. All that's left is the landing sequence and the harrowing moment of touchdown. Here are the key moments to watch out for: • During the touchdown attempt, Ispace will confirm it has started the 'lunar landing sequence' — the final steps the Resilience lander will need to tick through in the moments before the vehicle leaves it circular orbit around the moon and begins its touchdown attempt. • There a several critical phases within the sequence. The vehicle will begin to change its orientation and start the braking process, aiming to slow down Resilience's speed. • Resilience's targeted touchdown time is 3:17 p.m. ET. The lander is aiming for a spot within Mare Frigoris — or the 'Sea of Cold' — which lies in the moon's far northern reaches. • If all goes according to plan, Ispace should confirm the vehicle is safely on the surface within a minute or so after touchdown, the company's CEO, Takeshi Hakamada, told CNN. • Ground controllers will then conduct a series of health checks to make sure the lander, its science instruments and all other components are functioning as intended. • The first image from the lander is expected within the first 12 hours after the spacecraft reaches the surface, perhaps sooner. (Take note: Every lunar landing mission has to deal with limited bandwidth to beam data back to Earth. Sometimes, visuals are not the highest priority.)
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tesla China EV sales decline continues in May
Tesla's sales of China-made electric vehicles have continued to decline, marking an eight-month downturn with a 15% year-on-year drop in May, reported Reuters. Deliveries of the Model 3 and Model Y, including both domestic sales and exports, fell to 61,662 vehicles, despite a 5.5% increase from April. The US electric vehicle specialist's sales woes in China were further exacerbated by intense price wars in the world's largest auto market. In an effort to boost sales, Tesla has offered smart assisted driving capability transfers to new vehicles and included Model 3 and Model Y in a government-backed campaign to promote EV sales in rural areas. However, Tesla's challenges are not limited to China. The company has also faced a sales rout across much of Europe last month, attributed to its aging model lineup and CEO Elon Musk's political activities, which may have deterred buyers. In response to the competitive market, Tesla ignited a price war in 2023, drawing in over 40 brands. This aggressive pricing strategy is under scrutiny as China has urged a halt to the bruising price wars. Following Tesla's price cuts, other manufacturers such as BYD, Geely Auto, and Chery have offered fresh incentives, intensifying the competition. Despite the overall decline, Tesla's China-made EV deliveries in May did see a slight increase from the previous month. Meanwhile, BYD, Tesla's biggest rival, reported a 14.1% year-on-year rise in global passenger vehicle sales, although this was a slowdown from April's 19.4% growth. In a strategic move to enhance its advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) in China, Tesla partnered with Baidu in March. Baidu's engineers have collaborated with Tesla's Beijing team to integrate Baidu's mapping data with Tesla's full self-driving (FSD) Version 13 software, aiming to refine the system with more accurate and up-to-date mapping information for navigating Chinese roads. "Tesla China EV sales decline continues in May" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.


Bloomberg
31 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Fed's Harker Says Policymakers Need to Wait For More Clarity
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker said the US economy remains resilient and officials should maintain a wait-and-see approach until there is more clarity about how tariffs and other policies will affect the outlook. 'Even in a time of uncertainty, we remain as certain and deliberate as ever in our approach,' Harker said Thursday in prepared remarks for an event at the Philadelphia Fed. He added that's why he's supportive of recent decisions to 'keep the Fed's policy interest rate steady.'