RIYADH, March 8 — The US-Israeli war with Iran could leave consumers and businesses worldwide facing weeks or months of ‌higher fuel prices even if the week-old conflict ends quickly, as suppliers grapple with damaged facilities, disrupted logistics, and elevated risks to shipping.

The outlook poses a global ​economic threat and a political vulnerability for US President Donald Trump leading into the midterm elections, with voters sensitive to energy bills and unfavorable to foreign entanglements.

“The market is shifting from pricing pure geopolitical risk to grappling with tangible operational disruption, as refinery shutdowns and export constraints begin to impair crude processing and regional supply flows,” JP Morgan analysts said in a research note on Friday.

The conflict has already led to ‌the suspension of around a fifth of global crude and natural gas supply, as Tehran targets ships in the vital Strait of Hormuz between its shores and Oman, and attacks energy infrastructure across the region.

Global ​oil prices have surged more than 25 per cent since the start of the war, driving up fuel prices for consumers worldwide. A nearly complete shutdown of the Strait means the region’s giant oil producers – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Kuwait – have had to suspend shipments of as much as 140 million barrels of oil – equal to about 1.4 days of global demand – to global refiners.

As a result, oil and gas storage at facilities in the Middle East Gulf are rapidly filling, forcing oil fields in Iraq and Kuwait to cut oil production, with the United Arab Emirates likely to cut ​next, analysts, traders and sources said.

“At some point soon, everyone will also shut in if vessels do not come,” said a source with a state oil company in the region, who asked not to be named.

Oilfields forced to shut in across the Middle East as a result of the shipping disruptions could take a while to return to normal, said Amir Zaman, head of the Americas commercial team at Rystad Energy.

“The conflict could be ended, but it could take days or weeks or months, depending on the types of fields, age of the field, the type of shut-in that they’ve had to do before you can get production back up to what it once was,” he said.

A woman pays for gas at a Shell station in Washington, DC on March 5, 2026. — Reuters pic

Iranian forces, meanwhile, are targeting regional energy infrastructure – including refineries and terminals – forcing them to shut down too, with some of those operations badly damaged by attacks and in need of repairs.

Qatar declared force majeure on its huge volumes of gas exports on Wednesday after Iranian ‌drone attacks and it may take at least a month to return to normal production levels, sources told Reuters. Qatar supplies 20 per cent of global LNG. Saudi Aramco’s mammoth Ras Tanura refinery and crude export terminal, meanwhile, has also closed due to attacks, with ⁠no details on damage.

The White House has justified the attack on Iran, saying the country posed an imminent threat to the United ⁠States, although it has not provided details. Trump has also said he was concerned about Iran’s efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Danger in the strait

A quick end to the ⁠war would soothe markets. But a return to pre-war supply and pricing ⁠could take weeks or months, depending on the extent of ⁠the damage to infrastructure and shipping.

“Considering physical damage due to Iranian strikes, so far we have not seen anything that would be considered structural, although the risk remains as long as the war continues,” said Joel Hancock, energy analyst, Natixis CIB.

The biggest question for energy supplies is how and when the Strait of Hormuz will become safe for shipping again. Trump has offered naval escorts to oil tankers and promised US insurance support to vessels in the region. But safety in the waterway may be elusive, as Iran has the capacity ⁠to sustain drone attacks on shipping for months, intelligence and military sources have said.

The conflict could also encourage countries to top up their strategic petroleum reserves in the weeks and months after the conflict ends, by exposing the dangers of thin inventories. That would increase demand for oil and support prices.

Tankers are seen off the coast of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates on March 3, 2026. — Reuters pic

Global economic, political risk

In the meantime, the disruption in energy shipments is reverberating through supply chains and economies in import-reliant Asia, which sources 60 per cent of its crude oil from the Middle East.

In India, state-run Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals declared force majeure on gasoline export cargoes, sources said this week, joining a growing number of refineries in the region unable to fulfill sales contracts due to lack of supply.

At least two refineries in China have cut runs. China, a big supplier to the region, has asked refineries to suspend fuel exports. Thailand has also suspended fuel exports, while Vietnam has suspended crude shipments.

Disruption has given Russia a boost. Prices for Russian crude cargoes have risen as the US has given Indian refiners a 30-day waiver ⁠to buy Russian crude to substitute for lost Middle East supply. Washington had pressured India to cut Russian oil imports under the threat of tariffs.

In Japan, the No. 2 global LNG importer, baseload power futures for Tokyo for the fiscal year starting in April jumped more than a third this week on the EEX in anticipation of higher fuel prices. And in Seoul, drivers queued up at petrol stations in anticipation of ⁠rising pump prices.

For European consumers, the crisis in gas supplies and the higher prices are a double whammy. The region was hit the hardest by the disruption to gas supplies due to sanctions on Russian energy imports after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Europe turned ⁠to LNG imports to substitute for ⁠Russian pipeline gas. And Europe now needs to buy 180 more LNG cargoes than it did last year to fill gas storage to the levels needed before next winter.

The supply risks to the United States are fewer, as the country has grown in recent years into the world’s largest oil and ​gas producer. But US crude and fuel prices rise in tandem with international crude markets, so pump prices for gasoline and diesel are affected even if domestic ​supply is plentiful.

US average retail gasoline, for example, hit US$3.32 a gallon nationally on Friday, up 34 cents over last week, according ‌to AAA. Diesel prices, meanwhile, hit US$4.33 a gallon, up from US$3.76 a gallon a week ago.

Higher prices at the pump mark a major risk for Trump and his ​fellow Republicans as they head into midterm elections in November.

“Gasoline prices are psychologically powerful,” ​said Mark Malek, chief investment officer at Siebert Financial. “They are the inflation number that consumers see every single day.” — Reuters

DHAKA, March 8 — Shipments ​of garments for Zara owner Inditex and other major clothing retailers are stranded at airports in Bangladesh and India, according to three manufacturers, as the conflict in the Middle East forces airlines such ‌as Emirates and Qatar Airways to cancel flights.

South Asia is a clothes manufacturing powerhouse and fast fashion ​brands around the world rely on factories in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan for a constant stream of new T-shirts, dresses and jeans.

“Some of my apparel consignments are currently stuck at Dhaka airport,” said Shovon Islam, managing director of manufacturer Sparrow Group, whose European clients include Inditex, M&S, ​Next, and Primark.

“They were supposed to be flown to the UK via Dubai, but with operations at Dubai airport suspended, we are now in a very difficult position. We’re trying to figure out alternative routes, but none of them are simple or cost-effective,” Islam added.

Most airspace in the Middle East is still closed since the conflict began last Saturday, forcing the world’s busiest airport, Dubai, to shut down for several days with airlines including ‌Qatar Airways, Emirates, and Etihad cancelling many flights.

Much of South Asia relies on Gulf airlines to send cargo, usually in ⁠commercial flights with some cargo-only aircraft, said Frederic Horst, managing ⁠director at Trade and Transport Group in Sydney.

More than half of Bangladesh’s air ⁠cargo travels via the Gulf, he said, ⁠and 41 per cent of India’s, with ⁠Emirates and Qatar Airways the most important carriers.

Inditex has 150 suppliers in Bangladesh, 122 in India and 69 in Pakistan, according to its 2023 annual report. 

Its most recent annual report does not disclose country-specific supplier numbers. The company did not ⁠reply to Reuters’ questions about the disruption.

Freight costs double as capacity shrinks 

Manufacturers of fast fashion ​brands like H&M and Zara located in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are having a headache as their shipments are stuck at the airports and ports due to the ongoing Middle East conflict. — Reuters pic

As air capacity has reduced sharply, prices have shot up.

Alexander Nathani, managing partner at Mumbai-based Kira Leder, which produces leather jackets for Inditex and for Austrian retailers Cigno Nero, Fussl and Wiedner, said freight charges to fly his products from Mumbai to Austria have doubled because of the cancellations.

“The whole freight capacity is being blocked now on the airlines that are flying, so prices are increasing,” ⁠Nathani said. 

“One consignment in Pakistan is stuck in the factory, and the other consignment from Mumbai is being accepted for Swiss Air on Monday – let’s hope they’re also flying and that it all goes.”

Asked about the ⁠disruption to shipments from South Asia, Primark, H&M and M&S said the majority of their shipments is made by sea. Next ⁠did not ⁠immediately reply to Reuters’ questions. 

“The suspension of cargo flights due to airspace closures in the Middle East is already disrupting air shipments,” said ​Mohammad Hatem, president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, adding that ​if the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping channel separating ‌Iran from Oman and the UAE, remains closed it will drive up ​the cost of sea transport, too.

“All in ​all, we are worried – we can see another major crisis ahead.” — Reuters

LONDON, March 7 — Germany’s Axel Springer has agreed a £575 million (RM3.044 billion; US$730 million) deal to acquire the Telegraph Media Group (TMG), the owner of the UK’s Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph newspapers, Anadolu Ajansi reported.

The all-cash offer outbids a rival £500 million (RM2.647 billion) agreement reached last November with the Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT), the media company controlled by Lord Rothermere, owner of the Daily Mail.

Axel Springer is one of Europe’s largest media groups. It owns major German newspapers, including Bild and Die Welt, as well as international digital outlets Politico and Business Insider.

The acquisition would bring one of Britain’s most prominent newspaper groups under the ownership of the Berlin-based company, marking a significant change in the UK media landscape.

Axel Springer’s chief executive, Mathias Dopfner, has long expressed interest in expanding the company’s portfolio of international media brands.

In 2019, the group struck a deal with the private equity firm KKR to take the company private, allowing it to pursue further acquisitions.

Berlin-based Axel Springer is one of Europe’s largest media groups that owns ‘Bild’, ‘Die Welt’, ‘Politico’ and ‘Business Insider’ among others. — AFP pic

Axel Springer previously attempted to buy the Telegraph more than two decades ago but was unsuccessful when the Barclay brothers secured the newspapers with a £665 million (RM3.521 billion) bid in 2004.

Following the latest agreement, however, Dopfner said the purchase fulfilled a long-held ambition.

“More than 20 years ago, we tried to acquire the Telegraph and did not succeed,” he said. “Now our dream has come true. To be the owner of this institution of quality British journalism is a privilege and a duty.” — Bernama-Anadolu

NEW YORK, March 7 — The CEO of Google and its parent company Alphabet could earn up to US$692 million (RM2.7 billion) over the next three years under a new compensation plan published yesterday by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The deal would make Sundar Pichai, who has been chief executive of Google since 2015 and of Alphabet since 2019, one of the highest paid CEOs in the world.

Under the plan, Pichai’s three-year salary of US$6 million, or US$2 million per year, would remain unchanged.

The remainder of his compensation would be paid in the form of Alphabet stock, as well as shares in two subsidiaries — the autonomous vehicle company Waymo and the drone delivery service Wing.

The SEC filing suggested Pichai could receive about US$130 million from Waymo and US$45 million from Wing.

The allocation will depend on the performance of the shares and, for Alphabet, on the amount of dividends paid.

In the event of his dismissal, Pichai would forfeit all stock options that are not yet exercisable, according to the document.

“Current and previous incentives in Mr Pichai’s compensation have benefited Alphabet and its stockholders significantly,” the company said in the filing. — AFP

BEIJING, March 7 — China can keep employment stable and sustain positive momentum over the next five years, its human resources minister said today, even as rising labour market uncertainties and the rapid development ⁠of artificial intelligence ⁠pose ⁠challenges.

China will expand ⁠employment ⁠opportunities for young people, college ⁠graduates and migrant workers, Wang Xiaoping, minister of Human Resources and Social ⁠Security, told reporters on the sidelines of the ⁠annual parliamentary session ⁠in ⁠Beijing. — Reuters

NEW YORJK, March 7 — Crude prices surged yesterday on mounting fears about oil supply disruption amid the Middle East war, while equities retreated on poor US hiring data.

The US-Israel war on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory attacks across the Gulf region have upended the world’s energy and transport sectors, virtually halting activity in the Strait of Hormuz.

The international benchmark oil contract, Brent North Sea crude, surged to US$92.69 (RM365) per barrel, up 8.5 per cent for the day and nearly 30 per cent for the week after US President Donald Trump said only the “unconditional surrender” of Iran would end the Middle East war.

The main US contract West Texas Intermediate soared more than 12 per cent to over US$90 per barrel.

Maritime traffic has all but dried up through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies run.

Market reaction to the conflict had been tempered by hopes that it would be short, but Trump’s demand for Iran’s capitulation increases the prospect of a long conflict.

Trump’s comments “dashed hopes that the conflict will be averted quickly, and the oil price has continued its push” higher, said XTB research director Kathleen Brooks.

The prospect of high energy prices for a sustained period has fanned fears of a fresh spike in inflation that could hit the global economy while curbing the ability of central banks to cut interest rates to prop up growth.

“The longer that key energy infrastructure and shipping routes in the region are affected, the greater the chance of a significant inflationary impact,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

Attacks on oilfields were reported in southern Iraq and in the northern autonomous Kurdistan region, which forced a US-run oil field to shut production. Kuwait has also begun cutting production due to a lack of petroleum storage capacity, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Earlier this week, Trump pledged to protect ships through the Strait of Hormuz, but shipping companies have exercised caution in the region.

Trump’s pledge helped “reduce some of the risk premium in oil markets,” but will have “limited impact unless Iran’s extensive disruption capabilities are first neutralised,” said a note from analysts at JPMorgan Chase.

Meanwhile, data showed the US economy had unexpectedly lost jobs in February, while unemployment also edged up.

The world’s biggest economy shed 92,000 jobs last month, down from revised job growth of 126,000 in January, said the Labor Department.

New data released yesterday also showed US retail sales had fallen by 0.2 per cent in January.

Investors often look at data showing a slowdown in the economy as raising the chances of the US Federal Reserve lowering interest rates. But analysts have said higher oil prices complicate that picture.

Until recently, the markets were anticipating the Fed would resume interest rate cuts in June, but that has now shifted to September.

Wall Street’s main indices finished down around one per cent or more.

Europe’s main markets, which had earlier shown only small losses, finished the day with losses of around one per cent.

An exception to yesterday’s selloff was Boeing, which piled on 4.1 per cent following a Bloomberg report that said the company was close to a big sales agreement with Chinese carriers.

Key figures at around 2115 GMT 

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 8.5 per cent at US$92.69 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 12.2 per cent at US$90.90 per barrel

New York — Dow: DOWN 1.3 per cent at 47,501.55 (close)

New York — S&P 500: DOWN 1.3 per cent at 6,740.02 (close)

New York — Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 1.6 per cent at 22,387.68 (close)

London — FTSE 100: DOWN 1.2 per cent at 10,284.75 (close)

Paris — CAC 40: DOWN 0.7 per cent at 7,993.49 (close)

Frankfurt — DAX: DOWN 0.9 per cent at 23,591.03 (close)

Seoul — Kospi: FLAT at 5,584.87 (close)

Tokyo — Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 per cent at 55,620.84 (close)

Hong Kong — Hang Seng Index: UP 1.7 per cent at 25,757.29 (close)

Shanghai — Composite: UP 0.4 per cent at 4,124.19 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at US$1.1604 from US$1.1609 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: UP at US$1.3385 from US$1.3357

Dollar/yen: UP at 157.88 yen from 157.59 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.67 pence from 87.00 pence — AFP

WASHINGTON, March 7 — A US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official told a federal court yesterday the agency is preparing a new system to process tariff refunds — and a judge has granted it time to do so.

The CBP aims to have this system ready for use in 45 days, its executive director of trade programmes Brandon Lord said in a filing.

It will be more efficient than currently available processes, he said, adding that the agency is unable to immediately begin refunding a swath of President Donald Trump’s tariffs that were ruled illegal by the Supreme Court last month.

This is because despite the Court of International Trade’s order on Wednesday to begin initial refunds, the CBP lacks capability to handle the “unprecedented volume” of cases.

“Its existing administrative procedures and technology are not well suited to a task of this scale and will require manual work that will prevent personnel from fully carrying out the agency’s trade enforcement mission,” Lord said.

After considering Lord’s comments, Judge Richard Eaton suspended his directive for refunds “to the extent that it directs immediate compliance,” giving CBP room to set up its new system.

In his earlier order this week, Eaton told CBP to stop calculating the illegal tariffs for imports where payments were not fully finalised.

While the scope of his directive was not immediately clear, trade lawyers said the ruling could apply to almost all imports where the now-illegal duties were paid.

Lord noted yesterday that more than 330,000 importers had made over 53 million entries where they deposited or paid duties that have since been struck down.

These tariffs, imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), collected approximately US$166 billion (RM655 billion) in duties and estimated deposits as of Wednesday, when Judge Eaton’s order was first issued.

Around 20.1 million entries were yet to be finalised as of Wednesday.

Lord said CBP’s systems cannot immediately prevent such payments from being finalised without the IEEPA tariffs, and that attempts to do so would create complications.

A coalition of US small businesses, We Pay the Tariffs, had cheered the initial directive for tariff refunds.

It said: “A full, fast, and automatic refund process is what these businesses are owed and anything less is unacceptable.” — AFP

TOKYO, March 7 — Japan has sought assurances from the US that Tokyo will not be put at a disadvantage under Washington’s latest tariff measures, urging that a potential 15 per cent tariff not be applied to Japanese goods, its trade minister said yesterday.

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ryosei Akazawa said he made the request during a two-hour meeting in Washington with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Akazawa briefed reporters after the meeting.

After the US Supreme Court knocked down some of President Donald Trump’s key tariffs in February, the US imposed a new 10 per cent blanket levy that could rise to 15 per cent, generating new global uncertainty about the trade deals struck last year and the tariff rates importers now face.

Akazawa said both governments reaffirmed their commitment to last year’s trade deal, which formalised a baseline 15 per cent tariff on nearly all Japanese imports, ⁠down from 27.5 per cent on autos and initially ⁠threatened 25 per cent on most other goods.

“We requested that ⁠Japan’s treatment under the new ⁠tariff rules would ⁠not become less favourable than what was agreed last year,” Akazawa said, noting that Trump’s new blanket levy could otherwise raise costs for certain Japanese export ⁠items.

He declined to say how the US side responded.

Akazawa added that he and Lutnick also discussed a series of projects under Japan’s US$550-billion (RM2.1-trillion) US investment pledge, as well as cooperation on energy and critical minerals, ahead of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s visit to Washington on March 19.

Reuters has previously ⁠reported that Japan and the United States are working to include a nuclear power project involving Westinghouse in the second round of deals ⁠under the investment commitments Tokyo made as part of a US tariff agreement.

Last month, ⁠they ⁠announced the first round of three projects worth a combined US$36 billion, covering offshore drilling, natural gas production and synthetic diamonds.

The US Commerce Department said on X that Lutnick and Akazawa met for talks on strengthening economic ties following last month’s investment agreement, with no mention of tariff treatment. — Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — The ringgit is expected to trade cautiously against the US dollar next week as market sentiment continues to be shaped by developments in the Middle East, while investors will also keep a close watch on the trajectory of crude oil prices and upcoming US economic data.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said next week, the focus will continue to be on the Middle East conflict.

He said important data points include the US Consumer Price Index and personal consumption expenditures for February, but the impact is likely to be overwhelmed by geopolitics.

“What the market is hoping for is a de-escalation in the conflict, yet that seems to be elusive at the current juncture,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd opined that markets remain focused on the path of crude prices and their implications for US inflation and Federal Reserve policy.

It noted that while Malaysia benefits economically from higher oil prices in the short term, the ringgit no longer behaves as a traditional oil proxy and instead trades more like a high beta emerging market currency.

“Until investors gain clearer visibility on the conflict’s duration, the US dollar should remain supported, keeping the ringgit pressured around 3.94-3.98 per US dollar,” it added.

On a week-on-week basis, the ringgit ended the week lower against the US dollar to close at 3.9425/9535 compared with 3.8910/8960 on the previous Friday.

The local note traded mostly weaker against a basket of major currencies this week.

It edged down versus the Japanese yen to 2.4973/5044 yesterday from 2.4930/4963 a week earlier and fell vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.2530/2676 from 5.2470/2538. However, it rose against the euro to 4.5634/5762 from 4.5898/5957 previously.

Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mixed compared with its Asean peers.

The local currency fell versus the Singapore dollar to 3.0779/0867 from 3.0742/0784 a week earlier and slipped vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 232.9/233.6 from 231.7/232.2, but it gained against the Philippine peso to 6.68/6.70 from 6.75/6.76 previously and strengthened versus the Thai baht to 12.3392/3810 from 12.5153/5370. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — Bursa Malaysia is expected to trade with intermittent volatility next week as investors reassess the implications of the escalating conflict in the Middle East, said analysts.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Bursa Malaysia might remain in rangebound trading next week as investors maintain a cautious stance and refrain from taking aggressive positions.

He noted that the FBM KLCI is expected to fluctuate between 1,690 and 1,730, with volatility to remain elevated in the near term due to geopolitical uncertainties.

“However, the broader market structure still appears constructive. Provided the benchmark index stays above its key support levels of 1,690-1,700, medium-term investors can consider accumulating quality blue chips on weakness or oil and gas stocks for short-term play,” he told Bernama.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said the near-term direction of the market would depend largely on how the conflict evolved.

He added that investors would closely monitor whether the situation stabilises or intensifies, particularly in relation to potential disruptions to major oil supply corridors such as the Strait of Hormuz.

“As long as geopolitical uncertainties persist, Bursa Malaysia may continue to experience intermittent volatility, although the recent improvement in market momentum suggests that downside pressure could remain contained by selective buying interest,” Mohd Sedek told Bernama.

For the week just ended, Bursa Malaysia saw a notable decline toward the 1,700-point level early this week amid geopolitical strifes, followed by a mid-week consolidation as buying interest returned to heavyweights in the energy sector.

Global oil prices rose to above US$80 per barrel this week as the market reacted to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the conflict in the Middle East.

At the time of writing, Brent crude jumped 2.08 per cent to US$87.19 per barrel

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI gained 1.45 points to 1,718.06  from 1,716.61 a week earlier.

On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index declined 66.41 points to 12,367.41, the FBM Emas Index shed 84.07 points to 12,527.36, the FBM Mid 70 Index dropped 421.14 points to 17,103.33, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 10.76 points to 12,206.80, and the FBM ACE Index trimmed 320.22 points to 4,400.03.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index tumbled 293.75 points to 20,788.05,  the Energy Index rose 41.53 points to 795.27, the Plantation Index fell 21.13 points to 8,248.44, and the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 7.46 points to 178.29.

Weekly turnover surged to 17.29 billion units worth RM18.69 billion against 13.62 billion units worth RM18 billion a week earlier.

Main Market volume rose to 11.08 billion units worth RM17.45 billion against 8.42 billion units worth RM16.87 billion previously.

Warrants turnover increased to 4.29 billion units valued at RM550.73 million from 3.42 billion units valued at RM392.22 million last week.

Meanwhile, ACE Market volume gained to 1.90 billion units valued at RM571.54 million from 1.77 billion units valued at RM730.54 million in the prior week. — Bernama

NEW YORK, March 7 — Luckin Coffee is reportedly close to acquiring Blue Bottle in a deal valued at just under US$400 million (RM1.5 billion), marking the Chinese chain’s most assertive move yet in its escalating rivalry with Starbucks.

Fast Company reported that the acquisition would give Luckin a foothold in the premium “third wave” coffee segment, which Blue Bottle helped popularise.

The report noted that Starbucks remains the world’s largest coffee company with about 40,000 stores and US$37 billion in revenue, while Luckin expanded rapidly in 2025 to roughly 31,000 outlets.

Luckin’s model relies on smaller stores and digital ordering, and the company has been willing to operate at a loss to enter new markets, including taking over former Starbucks locations.

Starbucks, meanwhile, has been pursuing a design‑driven turnaround under CEO Brian Niccol, who has focused on warmer store concepts and a revamped menu to revive customer traffic.

The broader coffee market has also become more crowded, with chains such as Dunkin’, Tim Hortons, Dutch Bros and Blank Street competing for consumers seeking convenience, lower prices or novelty drinks.

Blue Bottle, which operates about 140 stores globally, has struggled to achieve profitability even as interest in high‑end, single‑origin coffee has waned in the age of iced beverages and matcha.

Fast Company reported that Centurium Capital, which controls Luckin, has begun exploring potential Blue Bottle locations in China, including former Starbucks Reserve sites.

Nestlé, which bought Blue Bottle in 2017 and later acquired full ownership, appears to have retained the brand’s grocery and packaged‑coffee business as part of the sale to Centurium.

The report said Nestlé may have taken a loss on the café business but kept Blue Bottle’s retail presence, which complements its broader coffee portfolio that includes Nescafé, Coffee Mate and Starbucks‑branded packaged products.

Nestlé does not disclose revenue from Blue Bottle’s consumer products, but its Starbucks retail line generated about US$2 billion in 2018.

Analysts told Fast Company that the long‑term outcome of the Blue Bottle sale will depend on how Luckin develops the brand, how Starbucks responds, and whether consumers still value the premium coffee experience that defined the third wave movement.

LONDON, March 6 — The rush of cash out of risk assets has rattled emerging markets since war engulfed the Middle East, but some investors are betting that economic fundamentals and fragmented geopolitics will allow a year-long rally to resume. The United States and Israel’s bombardment of Iran pressed emerging market currencies and stocks toward their biggest weekly losses in three years, while bonds also tumbled sharply. JPMorgan reduced its overweight stance on emerging market foreign exchange and local currency bonds to market weight, citing uncertainty. Citi also halved its emerging market foreign exchange exposure.

But veteran investors say emerging economies, barring further big shocks or prolonged high energy prices, can rebound, with green shoots already pushing through.

“I don’t think yet that we’ve seen … let’s call it real money, or crossover money, saying ‘I’m out’,” said Cathy Hepworth, head of PGIM fixed income’s emerging market debt team. “There are people on the sidelines who were waiting for a market correction to get in or to increase the degree to which they are involved.”

The end, or a pause? 

From stocks to bonds to currencies, emerging markets had outshone all expectations until this week.

Flows into the asset classes had ballooned since US President Donald Trump started his second term in office in January 2025. Emerging nations — led by Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Turkey and Poland — issued a record amount of debt in January, equities soared and yield-hungry investors ploughed cash into local currency debt across frontier markets. However, investors had already warned that some of the “hot” money from hedge funds and other non-specialist investors could leave quickly if the market turned. The US-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran caused just this to happen, with investors fleeing to safer assets. The dollar rose, along with gold, and investors piled into cash as they sought a port in the storm.

“We’ve seen a big shock to markets...there is more to go, should oil prices rise further,” said James Lord, global head of FX and EM strategy at Morgan Stanley.

Data showed MSCI’s emerging market equities index lost more than a trillion dollars in market ⁠capitalisation from its peak last Thursday to Wednesday’s close.

One of the most notable drops was for ⁠Korea’s Kospi equity index, which shed nearly 20 per cent over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday in its biggest-ever crash. The index, heavily influenced ⁠by the rush to AI and chips, had been ⁠the top performer in emerging equities.

“That’s clearly panic ⁠selling in some sense,” said Jonas Goltermann, deputy chief markets economist with Capital Economics, adding that it was a sign of the “market machine” overriding underlying fundamentals. Yesterday, the Kospi clawed its way back, gaining nearly 10 per cent and it is still up more than 30 per cent this year.

Strong fundamentals — and shield from the turmoil

Investors said that the years spent by many emerging and frontier markets to shore ⁠up their finances and bolster confidence in their central banks could also aid their appeal during a prolonged crisis.

Many central banks, Morgan Stanley’s Lord said, had taken “a very cautious and credible approach to the easing cycles”, getting inflation in check and underpinning currencies against the dollar.

Egypt and Nigeria, countries where it was once difficult to repatriate cash, reformed investor access. The outflows in recent days, some say, prove they are a reliable destination for the money.

“Frontiers that received a large amount of inflows are now demonstrating their ability to absorb the demand for foreign exchange and also demonstrating the FX flexibility, which we think is helpful in this context, to manage exogenous shocks of this nature,” said Yvette Babb, portfolio manager with William Blair.

“We think the fundamentals within EM ⁠are clearly strong to withstand an exogenous shock, as long as the story does not derail the global growth narrative.”

Oil prices are the biggest threat. A prolonged period above US$100 (RM394) per barrel could send global inflation soaring, dent growth and keep some emerging market central banks from continuing to cut rates. — Reuters pic

Oil threat

Oil prices are the biggest threat. A prolonged period above US$100 (RM394) per barrel could send global inflation soaring, dent growth and keep some emerging market central banks from continuing to cut rates.

However, Elias A. Elias, ⁠a portfolio manager with Templeton Global Investments, said Latin American commodity exporters could benefit from the higher prices, while cheaper valuations for emerging market equities more broadly bolstered their appeal despite the current turmoil.

“We’re ⁠very constructive on the EM ⁠equities as an asset class,” he said, adding emerging stocks remained at a roughly 28 per cent discount to developed markets, with higher earnings growth expectations.

South-to-south support

The changing nature of risk and global money flows could also shield emerging markets from a broader rush for the exit. Trump’s return to the White House and his shifting tariffs, sanctions and combative foreign policy has changed how some investors calculate risk.

Additionally, increasing “South-South” investment, where cash flows from pools such as Asia’s growing wealth or deep-pocketed Gulf sovereign wealth funds, has provided a buffer for some economies, most notably the likes of Egypt.

Such investors are less likely to abandon emerging markets.

“Today, funds and excess capital in Asia (are) being produced, and they’re investing in other markets,” said Dhiraj Bajaj, Head of Asia Credit at Lombard Odier. “The dynamic is changing.” — Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — Consistent policies and common mechanisms across Asean can help create a more connected market, making the bloc more attractive to capital and providing a base of stability for the region’s future progress.

Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said that adopting common policies, such as standardised emissions measurement, consistent intervention tools, and aligned taxonomy in areas like climate change, would make Asean markets more fluid and interconnected, allowing the region to be seen as a single market rather than a collection of separate countries.

“So those (common policies) attract capital, and they provide the base of stability for Asean to progress going forward,” he said at the “High-level roundtable: Policy Challenges for Asia Going Forward” event held in conjunction with the Asia in 2050 Conference in Bangkok, Thailand.

Amir Hamzah said Asean comprises diverse countries with a population of 700 million, offering significant growth potential.

By identifying common ground and focusing on non-controversial areas, he said the bloc can strengthen inter-regional cooperation.

He cited the Asean Power Grid as an example of a non-controversial initiative, describing it as fundamentally a win-win for all member countries.

Amir Hamzah also pointed to Malaysia-Singapore cooperation on the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ), highlighting that the two countries can combine their efforts to be more effective than they would be individually.

“And from the inter-country cooperation, we grow the inter-Asean cooperation, then we get even better and stronger together,” he added. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — Asean integration has strengthened Malaysia’s economic resilience, deepened supply chain connectivity and enhanced the region’s investments, said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Governor Datuk Seri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour. 

He said Asean’s integration helped reinforce Malaysia’s role in regional manufacturing and supply chains with more than half of the country’s exports linked to global value chains (GVCs). 

“We saw significant intermediate goods trade reflect the complementarity and also mutual production in Asia, within the Asean countries. So, this is where Malaysia and Asean economies support and provide input to each other,” he said during a panel session at the Asia 2050 Conference in Bangkok, Thailand today, which is organised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He was speaking at the session entitled: “Asean: Challenges and Opportunities.” Others in the session were Former Bank of Thailand Governor, Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, Visiting Scholar, Harvard Center for International Development, Chatib Basri and AMRO’s chief economist Dong He.

Abdul Rasheed also noted that intra-Asean trade remains low, at about 20 per cent of the region’s total trade, compared with roughly 60 per cent within the European Union (EU). 

“Although it’s small, but at least it does provide some kind of stable and sizable market for us. Given the size of the population in the Asean region itself, that provides a good market for us,” he said, adding that there are prospects and areas where the region could push forward. 

He said the Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) provide benefits to lowering the trade costs and improved export diversification across member economies.

He said Malaysia benefitted from Asean’s rise as an investment destination, particularly as a global production hub, as foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to the region rose by about eight per cent in 2024, even as global FDIs declined by around 11 per cent.

Looking ahead, Abdul Rasheed said Asean should continue strengthening digital and financial connectivity to support deeper economic integration, including expanding cross-border payment linkages.

He noted that QR payment connectivity across several Asean countries has enabled tourists and businesses to make cross-border transactions using existing banking applications, while also allowing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to participate more easily in regional trade.

Abdul Rasheed said Asean needs to deepen and scale up the regional payment connectivity by moving from bilateral payment arrangements towards multilateral arrangements through initiatives like Project Nexus. — Bernama 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — The ringgit ended the week higher against most major currencies but edged slightly lower versus the US dollar as the greenback regained its strength on rising safe-haven demand amid the escalating Middle East conflict.

At 6pm, the ringgit stood at 3.9425/9535 versus the greenback from 3.9415/9480 at Thursday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid noted that the ringgit was weaker against the greenback, with the USD/MYR reaching RM3.9533 during the afternoon session.

Currently, the dollar-ringgit is hovering at RM3.9503, depreciating from last Friday, when it closed at RM3.8925, translating into a 1.5 per cent decline.

“Next week, (the market) sentiment will continue to focus on the war in Iran, and whether it will escalate into a regional conflict,” he told Bernama.

At the close, the ringgit traded higher against a basket of major currencies.

It strengthened versus the British pound to 5.2530/2676 from 5.2635/2722 yesterday, rose against the euro to 4.5634/5762 from 4.5808/5884, and strengthened vis-à-vis the Japanese yen to 2.4973/5044 from 2.5080/5124 previously.

The local note also traded firmer against its Asean peers.

The ringgit appreciated vis-à-vis the Thai baht to 12.3392/3810 from 12.4711/5016 on Thursday, and gained versus the Singapore dollar to 3.0779/0867 from 3.0885/0938.

It climbed against the Indonesian rupiah to 232.9/233.6 from 233.1/233.6 and was higher versus the Philippine peso at 6.68/6.70 from 6.72/6.74. — Bernama 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — CelcomDigi Bhd and Maxis Bhd have each paid RM327.87 million to acquire their respective shares of ordinary shares owned by Minister of Finance Incorporated (MoF Inc) in Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB), as well as to settle the outstanding MoF Inc loan in the company.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, CelcomDigi announced it will assume its proportionate share of the MoF Inc loan, along with accrued interest and additional shareholder advances totalling RM161.17 million, which constitutes part of the option price.

CelcomDigi said the payment was made following a put notice issued by MoF Inc, in accordance with the shareholders’ agreement dated June 28, 2024, which was subsequently varied on May 13, 2025. 

“The proportionate number of shares owned by MoF Inc will be registered in the name of CelcomDigi pursuant to the terms of the agreement,” it said.

In a separate filing, Maxis said its subsidiary, Maxis Broadband Sdn Bhd, has also made the payment to acquire its corresponding stake in DNB, including the related loan, accrued interest and additional shareholder advances. — Bernama 

DOHA, March 6 — Qatar expects all Gulf energy producers to shut down exports within weeks if the Iran conflict continues and drives oil to US$150 (RM592) a barrel, the country’s Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi told the Financial Times in an interview published on Friday.

Qatar halted its production of liquefied natural gas on Monday, as Iran continued to strike Gulf countries in retaliation for Israeli and US attacks.

The country’s LNG production is equivalent to about 20 per cent of global supply and plays a major role in balancing both Asian and European markets’ demand for the fuel.

“Everybody that has not called for force majeure we expect will do so in the next few days that this continues. All exporters in the Gulf region will have to call force majeure,” Kaabi told the FT.

“If this war continues for a few weeks, GDP growth around the world will be impacted,” he said.

“Everybody’s energy price is going to go higher. There will be shortages of some products and there will be a chain reaction of factories that cannot supply,” Kaabi said.

Kaabi said even if the war ended immediately it would take Qatar “weeks to months” to return to a normal cycle of deliveries.

Analysts and economists have highlighted the potential impact of the war on economies globally.

Kaabi, who is also the CEO of QatarEnergy, one of the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas producers, told FT that the company’s North Field expansion project would delay first production.

“It will delay all our expansion plans for sure,” Kaabi said. “If we come back in a week, perhaps the effect is minimal, if it’s a month or two, it is different.”

The project was scheduled to begin production in mid-2026.

He forecast that crude prices could hit US$150 a barrel in two to three weeks if ships and tankers were unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which is the world’s most vital oil export route, connecting the biggest Gulf oil producers with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

Kaabi also expects gas prices to rise to US$40 per million British thermal units. — Reuters 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd (Bursa Securities) has publicly reprimanded TFP Solutions Bhd (TFP) and its executive director and chief executive officer (CEO), Datin Sr Eugena Braganza, for breach of the Bursa Malaysia Securities ACE Market Listing Requirements (ACE LR).

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, it said the information technology company was publicly reprimanded for failing to ensure that its annual report for the financial year ended June 30, 2024, particularly paragraph 3.8 of the Corporate Governance Overview Statement vis-à-vis the representation that all directors have completed the Mandatory Accreditation Programme prescribed by Bursa Securities (MAP statement) was accurate and not false or misleading.

In particular, the report stated that all directors had completed the required training, although Datin Eugena only completed MAP Part I on September 11, 2025, nearly a year after the annual report was issued on October 30, 2024.

The regulator noted that the director failed to complete MAP Part I as required within four months of her appointment as an executive director of TFP on April 15, 2024. She was redesignated as executive director-cum-CEO on July 1, 2024.

Bursa Securities said she only completed MAP Part I on September 11, 2025, which was one year and 27 days after the due date.

The reprimand was issued after due process and consideration of the roles and responsibilities of both TFP Solutions and its director.

According to Bursa Securities, completion of MAP Part I is a fundamental requirement for directors to effectively discharge their duties and uphold corporate governance standards.

It also reminded TFP Solutions and its board of their responsibility to ensure accurate disclosure and maintain investor confidence and market integrity. — Bernama 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index ended the week slightly higher, driven by strong buying interest in Petronas Chemicals, which surged by more than 20 per cent as investors viewed it as a potential beneficiary of the Iran crisis due to its domestic feedstock supply and cost advantages. 

Petronas Chemicals surged 78 sen, or 22.2 per cent, to RM4.29, contributing 10.3 points to the index’s advance.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 4.86 points, or 0.28 per cent, to close at 1,718.06 from Thursday’s close of 1,713.20. 

The benchmark index opened 0.60 of-a-point lower at 1,712.60 and moved between 1,708.48 and 1,719.95 throughout the session. 

On the broader market, losers beat gainers by 675 to 411, while 518 counters were unchanged, 1,018 untraded, and 22 suspended.

Turnover expanded to 3.71 billion units worth RM4.05 billion from Thursday’s 2.85 billion units worth RM3.26 billion.   

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said the FBM KLCI ended higher today, extending its rebound for a second consecutive session as bargain hunting emerged following earlier weakness this week.

He added that gains were primarily driven by stocks linked to the basic materials, utilities and energy sectors, which helped support the broader index and hovered around the psychological 1,700 level, suggesting that near-term technical support remains intact despite the recent bout of volatility.

“Notably, despite heightened tensions in the Middle East, foreign investors turned net buyers on Bursa Malaysia yesterday, indicating that international funds remain selectively engaged with the Malaysian market,” Mohd Sedek told Bernama.

Among Bursa Malaysia’s heavyweights, Maybank advanced six sen to RM11.76, Press Metal jumped 16 sen to RM7.81, SD Guthrie was flat at RM5.60, Public Bank shed three sen to RM4.87, and CIMB declined seven sen to RM7.97. 

On the most active list, Pegasus Heights rose half-a-sen to one sen, Lotte Chemical soared 14.5 sen to 48.5 sen, Velesto added one sen to 33 sen, AirAsia X trimmed 14 sen to RM1.28, and Capital A eased 2.5 sen to 43 sen. 

Among top gainers, Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbed 64 sen to RM19.36, MISC garnered 46 sen to RM8.70, United Plantations went up 28 sen to RM30.28, and PPB increased 24 sen to RM11.14.  

As for the top losers,  Nestle lost RM2.30 to RM105.80, Malaysian Pacific Industries shrank 94 sen to RM30.10, Allianz Malaysia slid 52 sen to RM20.86, and Hong Leong Industries slipped 40 sen to RM17.18. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index added 10.03 points to 12,527.36, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 12.52 points to 12,367.41, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 33.06 points to 12,206.80, the FBM 70 Index slid 84.15 points to 17,103.33, and the FBM ACE Index tumbled 96.43 points to 4,400.03.  

By sector, the Financial Services Index dipped 64.71 points to 20,788.05, the Industrial Products and Services Index bagged 4.13 points to 178.29, the Energy Index increased 10.33 points to 795.27, and the Plantation Index garnered 61.54 points to 8,248.44.     

The Main Market volume swelled to 2.50 billion units valued at RM3.80 billion from Thursday’s 1.82 billion units valued at RM3.05 billion.     

Warrants turnover expanded to 881.10 million units worth RM110.71 million from 731.61 million units worth RM100.29 million yesterday. 

The ACE Market volume improved to 326.47 million units valued at RM138.63 million from 290.47 million units valued at RM104.73 million previously.   

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 502.57 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (457.68 million), construction (203.70 million), technology (189.67 million), financial services (129.10 million), property (310.11 million), plantation (31.14 million), real estate investment trusts (19.17 million), closed-end fund (43,300), energy (387.30 million), healthcare (139.74 million), telecommunications and media (49.58 million), transportation and logistics (56.39 million), utilities (32.35 million), and business trusts (320,100). — Bernama 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Bhd (SME Bank) announced the appointment of Zulkiflee Hashim as its new chairman, effective March 6.

SME Bank is a subsidiary of Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd (BPMB).

In a statement today, the bank said Zulkiflee was first appointed as an independent non-executive director on March 6, 2019, where he has since contributed to strengthening its governance and providing strategic oversight in support of its developmental mandate.

“He brings more than 35 years of experience in the banking industry, with leadership roles across Citibank Malaysia, Deutsche Bank Malaysia and Hong Leong Bank Bhd,” it said.

It said Zulkiflee’s appointment as chairman reflects SME Bank’s continued commitment to strong leadership and governance.

“With Zulkiflee’s extensive experience in the banking industry is expected to further guide SME Bank’s strategic priorities in empowering micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and supporting sustainable economic growth,” the bank said. — Bernama 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — Gamuda Bhd’s outstanding construction order book reached a record high of RM44 billion in the second quarter of the financial year ending January 31, 2026 (2Q FY2026), driven by its major expansion in Australia.

The engineering, construction and property development company said its latest win, the A$2.7 billion (RM7.45 billion) Sydney Metro West – Stations Package West project, has helped the group secure a combined RM9.5 billion in new infrastructure and energy projects during the quarter.

The group posted a five per cent growth in its quarterly net profit to RM230 million, alongside a nine per cent rise in revenue to RM4.4 billion.

“This performance was primarily driven by robust contributions from ongoing domestic construction projects and the successful execution of quick-turnaround projects (QTPs) in Vietnam, exceeding sales targets,” Gamuda said.

For the first half of the year (1H FY2026), the group’s net profit rose five per cent to RM445 million, while revenue grew one per cent to RM8.3 billion.

On the property front, for the 1H FY2026, the group’s property sales decreased by nine per cent to RM1.6 billion.

Celadon City in Vietnam was completed last year and has sold out available products much faster than anticipated due to demand exceeding expectations.

The group has proactively activated its strategic landbank replacement plans to boost its QTP portfolio with four new acquisitions.

“Property sales are expected to pick up strongly as new phases and developments are brought to market,” it said.

Looking ahead, Gamuda said its resilience is supported by its record-breaking RM44 billion construction order book and an unbilled property sales of RM8 billion. — Bernama 

BUDAPEST/KYIV, March 6 — Ukraine accused Hungary on Friday of “taking hostage” seven employees of its state savings bank who were carrying around US$82 million (RM323.62 million) in cash and ‌gold, as Budapest vowed to stop transit shipments to the war-torn country amid an oil dispute.

Kyiv ​and Budapest are locked in an increasingly bitter row over an outage of the Druzhba pipeline which supplies Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia. They are the only EU countries still importing Russian oil due to EU sanctions.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the ​employees of Oschadbank had been transporting cash from Austria back to Ukraine via Hungary when they were detained. He said their whereabouts were currently unknown.

“In fact, we are talking about Hungary taking hostages and stealing money,” Sybiha wrote on X. 

“This is state terrorism and racketeering.”

He said Ukraine had sent an official note demanding the immediate release of its citizens and would ask the European Union to “provide a clear qualification of Hungary’s unlawful actions”.

The ‌Hungarian foreign ministry, police and a government spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

Separately, the Telex news ⁠site reported on Friday that Hungary’s anti-terrorism forces had raided ⁠two cash-in-transit vehicles with Ukrainian licence plates on a highway. There was no immediate ⁠official confirmation of the report.

Orban vows more pressure on Kyiv

Hungary and ⁠Slovakia accuse Ukraine of deliberately delaying the resumption of oil flows via the damaged Druzhba pipeline for political reasons. Kyiv denies the charge, saying it needs time to repair the damage caused to energy infrastructure by a Russian drone strike ⁠on January 27.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who faces a serious challenge to his 16-year rule in an election on April 12, has vetoed new European Union sanctions on Moscow as well as a huge EU loan for Ukraine over the oil dispute.

Orban again accused Kyiv on Friday of blackmail and said Hungary would use all means at its disposal until oil flows resume.

“We have stopped... diesel exports to Ukraine, we still maintain power exports, ⁠and we will stop transit shipments going through Hungary that are important for Ukraine... until we get Ukraine’s approval for the oil shipments,” Orban told state radio. He did not refer to the detention ⁠of the bank employees.

GPS signal

The Ukrainian savings bank said its employees had been carrying US$40 million (RM157.84 million), €35 million (RM160 million) and 9 ⁠kg of ⁠gold. It said a GPS signal showed their vehicles were now near a building of Hungary’s security services in Budapest.

“The transportation of funds ​and valuables was carried out by Oschadbank within the framework of ​and in accordance with an international agreement with Raiffeisen Bank, ‌Austria,” Oschadbank said in a statement.

“The cargo was cleared in accordance with ​international transportation rules and applicable European customs procedures.”

Raiffeisen ​International, when contacted by Reuters, declined to comment on the matter, citing banking secrecy rules. — Reuters

HONG KONG, March 6 — Asian markets were mixed Friday as the war in the Middle East showed no sign of ending, though there was some reprieve from the surge in oil prices after the United States looked to ease supply concerns.

After a torrid week on trading floors, investors were limping into the weekend wondering when the US-Israel war on Iran, and Tehran’s attacks across the Gulf region, will come to an end.

Equities across the world have been battered by the crisis, which has sent crude prices soaring by about a fifth since February 27 – the day before the attacks started – and fanned fears of a fresh spike in inflation that could hit the global economy.

While there was a midweek bounce, analysts warned that the longer the conflict goes on, the worse it will be for markets to absorb.

“It is too soon to suggest that stocks have bottomed,” wrote IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

“Unless the war ends soon -- and if anything a more intense conflict seems more likely – markets will struggle. Volatility remains elevated, which means we should expect plenty of two-way price action, but a continued decline for the moment seems likely, even with short-term bounces along the way.”

And the battle looks set to be drawn out, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warning Thursday that the Islamic republic was neither asking for a ceasefire nor negotiations with the United States.

After a fresh selloff on Wall Street, Asia largely followed suit.

Sydney, Wellington, Taipei, Manila, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta all retierated while Singapore was flat.

Seoul, which was pummelled almost 19 per cent over Tuesday and Wednesday before bouncing more than nine per cent Thursday, ended flat after recovering an early drop.

Investors were growing increasingly worried that the spike in crude prices will push inflation back up and force central banks to re-evaluate plans to cut interest rates, with some analysts warning that they could even contemplate hikes.

While Iran has not officially shut off the Strait of Hormuz, shipping through the waterway has all but dried up.

Still, there was some reprieve on the oil front as both main contracts dropped – though they pared their initial two per cent losses – after US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said officials were looking at plans to temper the price gains.

He told Bloomberg that “everything is being considered”, with options including tapping the country’s reserves, possibly in tandem with other nations.

With that in mind, the White House on Thursday temporarily eased sanctions against Russia to allow its oil currently stranded at sea to be sold to India until April 3.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the waiver was issued “to enable oil to keep flowing into the global market.”

Earlier this week US President Donald Trump pledged to protect ships through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s crude supplies and a substantial amount of gas run.

Other countries have also moved to address the issue, with China asking its largest oil refiners to suspend exports of diesel and gasoline, according to Bloomberg News.

However, prices remain elevated. Brent at one point rose around 19 per cent since Friday, while WTI had spiked more than 22 per cent, having topped US$80 (RM315.53) a barrel for the first time since January last year.

Chris Weston at Pepperstone added that investors were trading with an eye on possible developments over the weekend.

“With volatility at elevated levels, traders face the possibility of a significant gap move in either direction when markets reopen on Monday,” he wrote.

“For now, all eyes remain on the weekend news flow and any developments that could determine the next major move in global energy markets,” he added. — AFP

WASHINGTON, March 6 — A US judge will meet behind closed doors with government lawyers on Friday seeking to hammer out a process to refund up to US$175 billion (RM691 billion) in illegally collected tariffs, a meeting a court official described as a “settlement conference.”

Judge Richard Eaton of the US Court of International Trade will meet with lawyers representing the customs agency responsible for reimbursing more than 300,000 importers that paid the tariffs, which were struck down last month as unconstitutional.

Government lawyers have said the process for refunding President Donald Trump’ssignature tariffs was unprecedented in scope and would require manual review of tens of millions of tariff payments.

US courts are presumed to be open to the public, although judges will sometimes hold private meetings with parties to discuss scheduling or how to handle sensitive information.

The calendar on the court’s website describes Friday’s meeting as a “closed conference.” When asked why the meeting was closed to the public, Gina Justice, the clerk for the trade court, told Reuters on Thursday that it was a “settlement conference.”

The case that Eaton is overseeing to create a refund process was brought by a single importer, Atmus Filtration Inc, which said in a court filing it had paid US$11 million in illegal tariffs.

Atmus’ lawyers will be able to attend Friday’s meeting remotely, according to the court docket. They and the agency, US Customs and Border Protection, did not respond to requests for comment.

It is unclear why the Atmus case, which was filed last week, became the vehicle that may determine how to litigate the tariff refunds for around 2,000 cases.

The judge, who said he was chosen by the court to hear those cases, said he wanted a process that would not require going to court.

Eaton issued a sweeping order on Wednesday in the Atmus case directing the CBP to begin refunding illegally collected tariffs to potentially hundreds of thousands of importers using the agency’s existing internal process. The order made clear that it applied to all importers, not just Atmus.

A broad swath of Trump’s tariffs were struck down by the US Supreme Court, which ruled on February 20 that Trump had exceeded his authority, upending a key plank of his economic policy. The court did not provide guidance on refunds, a process that dissenting Justice Brett Kavanaugh warned could be a “mess.”

The vast majority of importers are small businesses, and many worry that the refund process will be costly and distracting.

Eaton said he expected CBP lawyers to attend Friday’s 10.30am ET (1530 GMT) meeting, which he called a conference, to resolve how to cut through paperwork on 79 million shipments and issue refunds.

“I don’t believe that any of this has to be chaotic with respect to anybody, because I know that you’re going to try to come up with a way of doing it,” Eaton said at Wednesday’s hearing. “And so on Friday, we’re going to hear at least the initial ideas from the customs service as to how this will proceed.”

An attorney involved with other trade refund cases told Reuters they believed the meeting would result in a process that would be made public as soon as Friday that would provide relatively quick refunds for the vast majority of importers without the need to sue.

Cases by importers such as VOS Selections and Learning Resources were filed early in 2025 and went all the way to the Supreme Court. The legal team for VOS Selections and several other importers had asked the judges handling their cases to transfer them to Eaton, although the court has not taken action. — Reuters 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — The ringgit was nearly flat against the US dollar at Friday’s open as foreign exchange sentiment stayed cautious amid no signs of the Middle East crisis easing over the past week.

At 8 am, the local currency traded at 3.9430/9550 against the greenback, compared with Thursday’s close of 3.9415/9480.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said risk-off sentiment continued to dominate the market, with major indices in the red while oil prices remained elevated, reflecting a cautious trading environment.

On the domestic front, Mohd Afzanizam said Bank Negara Malaysia’s decision on the overnight policy rate (OPR) yesterday was in line with economists’ expectations, adding that policymakers appear to be monitoring developments in the Middle East before making any changes to the current monetary policy stance.

“Hence, the ringgit is expected to remain range-bound today,” he added.

At the time of writing, Brent crude traded at US$85.41 per barrel, while the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose four basis points to 4.13 per cent.

Yesterday, the ringgit closed 0.04 per cent lower against the US dollar at RM3.9447, after moving within a narrow range of RM3.9305 to RM3.9483.

At the open, the ringgit was mostly higher against major currencies.

The local currency strengthened against the euro to 4.5762/5902 from 4.5808/5884 at Thursday’s close and improved vis-à-vis the Japanese yen to 2.5024/5102 from 2.5080/5124 previously.

However, it weakened against the British pound to 5.2659/2819 from 5.2635/2722 yesterday.

The ringgit traded mixed against its Asean peers.

It appreciated vis-à-vis the Thai baht to 12.4072/4539 from 12.4711/5016 on Thursday and strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.0795/0891 from 3.0885/0938 yesterday.

It was little changed against the Indonesian rupiah at 233.2/234.0 from 233.1/233.6 at the previous close and was unchanged versus the Philippine peso at 6.72/6.75 compared with 6.72/6.74. — Bernama

WASHINGTON, March 6 — A group of 24 US states sued President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday in the first legal challenge to his newly imposed 10 per cent global tariffs, alleging that the president cannot sidestep a recent ‌US Supreme Court ruling that invalidated most of his previous tariffs on imported goods by citing new legal authority.

The Democratic-led states, including ​New York, California and Oregon, argue the new tariffs, which Trump announced immediately after the high court ruling on February 20, are also illegal.

The tariffs were imposed for 150 days under the Trade Act of 1974, which is meant to address short-term monetary emergencies, not routine trade deficits that arise when a wealthy nation like the United States imports more ​than it exports, according to the states’ lawsuit filed in the New York-based US Court of International Trade.

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said during a press conference that Trump’s latest tariffs are an attempted “end run” around working with Congress, as the US Constitution requires.

“Make no mistake about it, President Trump’s signature economic policy is historically unpopular and is costing Americans, our business, and us as states hundreds of billions of dollars,” Rayfield said. “It cannot continue just because a few of Trump’s lawyers have found a way to twist words and craft a legal argument.”

White House spokesperson Kush Desai said ‌in a statement that the administration will vigorously defend the president’s action in court.

“The President is using his authority granted by Congress to address fundamental international ⁠payments problems and to deal with our country’s large and serious balance-of-payments deficits,” Desai ⁠said.

Trump’s February 20 executive order imposed a 10 per cent tariff on imports, but US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ⁠said Wednesday that those rates would likely rise to ⁠15 per cent later this week.

Central pillar

Trump has made ⁠tariffs a central pillar of his foreign policy in his second term, claiming sweeping authority to issue tariffs without input from Congress. But the Supreme Court on February 20 handed Trump a stinging defeat when it struck down a huge swath of tariffs he had imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, ruling ⁠that the law did not give him the power he claimed.

Trump responded by criticising the justices who ruled against him and announcing new duties under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, a law that – like IEEPA – had never before been used to impose tariffs in the US Trump has also imposed other tariffs, on imports like autos, steel and aluminium, under more traditional legal authority. Those tariffs are safer from legal challenges.

Section 122 authority allows the president to impose duties of up to 15 per cent for up to 150 days on any and all countries to address “large and serious” balance of payments ⁠issues. It does not require investigations or impose other procedural limits. After 150 days, Congress would need to approve their extension.

The balance-of-payments deficit measures in the Trade Act are primarily meant to address “archaic” monetary risks that existed when foreign governments could trade in their dollars for ⁠gold held by the US, according to the states. Trump, however, has misapplied that standard in an attempt to instead address US “trade deficits,” which occur when a ⁠nation imports more than ⁠it exports, according to the states.

The states that filed the lawsuit include 22 states with Democratic attorneys general and two, Pennsylvania and Kentucky, with Democratic governors and Republican attorneys ​general. They are asking the court to issue an order that would block the new tariffs and ​order any tariff payments already made under Section 122 authority to be refunded.

Meanwhile, ‌the court is grappling with about 2,000 lawsuits from businesses seeking refunds for more than US$130 ​billion (RM513 billion) in IEEPA tariff payments made by importers before the ​Supreme Court’s February ruling. On Wednesday, the court ordered US Customs to begin processing tariff refunds. — Reuters

TOKYO, March 6 — Oil prices fell more than two per cent in early Asian trade after strong gains in recent days on the back of the conflict in the Middle East.

West Texas Intermediate was down 2.09 per cent at US$79.32 (RM313) per barrel at around 0015 GMT, having soared 8.5 per cent on Thursday to US$81.01. Brent North Sea Crude, which rose 4.9 per cent on Thursday, was not yet being traded.

“Further action to reduce pressure on oil is imminent and the oil (price) seems to have pretty much stabilised,” US President Donald Trump said on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Trump had ordered the US Development Finance Corporation to provide political risk insurance for all maritime trade through the Gulf.

He said the US Navy would “if necessary” begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz – a vital chokepoint for crude which Iran has effectively closed off ­– “as soon as possible.”

On stock markets, Japan’s Nikkei index was down 0.8 per cent shortly after the open, while South Korea’s benchmark Kospi slipped 1.2 per cent.

On Thursday, European exchanges shed around 1.5 per cent and Wall Street’s main indices also retreated. — AFP

ZURICH, March 5 — The Swiss National Bank yesterday unveiled the new-look Swiss franc banknote designs, featuring native plants, landscapes and how human life adapts at different altitudes throughout the Alpine nation.

Switzerland’s SNB central bank launched a competition to find the new designs, with the winner coming in the top three in a public vote and with a panel of experts.

On the front, the series features delicate drawings of native plants found at different altitudes, while landscapes and buildings from around the country fill the reverse.

Trains, boating, watchmaking, Alpine cheese dairies, hiking trails, cable cars, the Glacier Express train, mountain climbing, and the Jungfraujoch observatory all feature on the new notes, which are expected to enter circulation in the early 2030s.

“We really focused on the topography that shapes life in Switzerland,” Sebastien Fasel, from the winning graphic design duo Emphase, told AFP at the unveiling in Zurich.

“We wanted to show how life adapts to the terrain.”

The Swiss currency is considered a safe haven investment and is one of the world’s most traded currencies.

Unusually, Swiss banknotes have a vertical orientation. They are printed in the four national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh.

The new designs are being exhibited in Zurich until March 15.

Switzerland is due to vote on Sunday on a popular initiative which would amend the constitution to guarantee the option of cash payments.

The use of cash in Switzerland has declined sharply since the Covid-19 pandemic.

While 70 percent of everyday transactions were conducted in cash in 2017, the figure had fallen to around 30 percent by 2024, according to an SNB study last year.

“The use of cash is declining, but the Swiss are very attached to it,” SNB vice chairman Antoine Martin told AFP, highlighting the importance of maintaining cash for unforeseen circumstances, such as power outages or mobile phones running out of charge.

The current banknote series was launched in 2016.

It features hands in action on one side, and Swiss locations on the other.

Martin said the new series had enhanced security features, allowing them to “stay one step ahead” of counterfeits.

The Swiss franc is the legal tender of Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the Italian exclave of Campione d’Italia. — AFP

BASRA, March 5 — Foreign staff were evacuated today from Iraq’s giant Rumaila oilfield, operated by British oil major ⁠BP, ⁠after ⁠two unidentified ⁠drones landed ⁠inside the ⁠field, three Iraqi oil industry ⁠sources told Reuters. — Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — The ringgit remained in a narrow trade and closed lower against the US dollar today, as heightened tensions in the Middle East weighed on market sentiment and supported the greenback.

At 6 pm, the ringgit eased to 3.9415/9480 versus the greenback from 3.9395/9465 at Wednesday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said global tensions surrounding the escalating conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran remained high on traders’ agenda, which affected sentiment negatively.

He noted that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) today decided to hold the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 2.75 per cent but at the same time acknowledged the geopolitical risk emanating from the Iran war.

“What it means is that BNM is assessing the situation and the OPR should remain steady in the near term. That should be positive for the ringgit in the near term,” he told Bernama.

Earlier, the central bank said that at the current OPR level, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) considers the monetary policy stance to be appropriate and supportive of the economy amid price stability.

BNM also stated that the MPC will continue to monitor ongoing developments and assess the balance of risks surrounding the outlook for domestic growth and inflation.

At the close, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

It strengthened versus the British pound to 5.2635/2722 from 5.2640/2733 yesterday, but fell against the euro to 4.5808/5884 from 4.5738/5819 at the last close and slipped vis-à-vis the Japanese yen to 2.5080/5124 from 2.5062/5108 previously.

The local note traded mixed against its Asean peers.

The ringgit appreciated vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 12.4711/5016 from 12.5246/5541 on Wednesday but slid versus the Singapore dollar to 3.0885/0938 from 3.0864/0921 yesterday.

It was flat against the Indonesian rupiah at 233.1/233.6 from 233.1/233.7 at the previous close and was unchanged versus the Philippine peso at 6.72/6.74. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — Bank Negara Malaysia’s decision to keep the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) steady at 2.75 per cent reflects a policy stance that remains supportive in the face of an increasingly uncertain external environment.

MARC Ratings Bhd chief economist Dr Ray Choy said the Malaysian economy is equipped to face these external challenges from a position of strength as economic activity has continued to expand at a healthy pace, while inflation is mild.

“The external environment remains the dominant source of uncertainty, particularly through channels such as geopolitical and geoeconomic positioning, energy prices, global financial conditions and trade dynamics.

“Even without a change in the policy rate, these factors can influence domestic financial conditions through the exchange rate, funding costs and expectations,” he told Bernama.

The central bank decided to maintain the OPR at 2.75 per cent at today’s second of six Monetary Policy Committee meetings for 2026.

Besides, MBSB Research chief economist Abdul Mui’zz Morhalim believes there is no pressure for BNM to adjust OPR in view of the resilience in Malaysia’s economic growth, supported by firm domestic demand and electric and electronics (E&E) exports.

“Inflation also remains relatively stable, suggesting the current monetary policy stance remains appropriate for now,” he said.

Commenting on the impact of the OPR decision in the wake of the Middle East conflict, he said geopolitical conflicts are unlikely to directly influence BNM’s policy decision at this stage.

“However, if the conflict significantly weakens the global economic outlook, BNM could consider easing the OPR to support domestic growth, particularly if slower demand adversely affects Malaysia’s labour market and domestic demand,” he said.

Abdul Mui’zz said Malaysia’s economic fundamentals remain positive, supported by among others steady domestic demand, stable financial conditions and an improving fiscal position.

“These fundamentals, together with stronger tourism activity under Visit Malaysia 2026, should help cushion the economy against external uncertainties recently heightened by the escalation in geopolitical risks in the Middle East,” he said.

Meanwhile, Choy opined that the Middle East war has widened and is extending beyond initial expectations.

Airspace closures and disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz passage have led to spikes in logistics costs, insurance premiums, commodity and oil prices.

He said this would lead to higher inflation and dampen consumer sentiment, although the impact on Malaysia will be moderated by existing subsidies and controls on fuel and food prices.

“Geopolitical costs have increased, including further escalation of the Middle East conflict, the involvement of opportunistic militant groups, and the targeting of both military and civilian infrastructure such as desalination plants.

“OPR decisions will likely remain data-dependent and supportive to the domestic economy,” Choy added. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — Bursa Malaysia ended higher today in line with regional equities as bargain hunting emerged after the benchmark index briefly slipped below the psychological 1,700 level in recent trading sessions.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 14.98 points, or 0.88 per cent, to close at an intraday high of 1,713.20 from Wednesday’s close of 1,698.22,

The benchmark index opened 8.03 points higher at 1,706.25 and slipped to an intraday low of 1,701.83 in early trade.

Gainers beat losers by 572 to 511, while 523 counters were unchanged, 1,016 untraded, and 11 suspended.

Turnover declined to 2.85 billion units worth RM3.26 billion from Wednesday’s 3.51 billion units worth RM3.79 billion.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said the FBM KLCI opened firmer this morning and maintained its upward momentum into the afternoon session. As a result, today’s gains recovered most of the losses recorded yesterday.

He added that the rebound suggested that investors were carefully buying stocks with strong fundamentals following the recent market pullback.

Among the index constituents, gains were led mainly by basic materials and oil-related counters, supported by the sharp rise in global energy prices, while utilities stocks emerged as the main laggards amid profit-taking.

“Investor sentiment was also stabilised by the latest policy decision from Bank Negara Malaysia, which kept the Overnight Policy Rate unchanged at 2.75 per cent, reinforcing expectations that domestic monetary policy will remain supportive of economic growth despite rising external uncertainties,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng expects bargain hunting in oversold blue chip stocks to continue providing intermittent support, especially as valuations become more attractive after the recent market correction.

“As such, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to move within the 1,690-1,720 range towards the weekend,” he added.

Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index climbed 0.70 per cent to 4,846.56, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.28 per cent to 25,321.34, Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 1.90 per cent to 55,278.06, and South Korea’s KOSPI surged 9.63 per cent to 5,583.90.

Among Bursa Malaysia’s heavyweights, Maybank gained four sen to RM11.70, Public Bank firmed six sen to RM4.90, CIMB rose by nine sen to RM8.04, RHB Bank was flat at RM8.50, and Hong Leong Bank shed eight sen to RM22.98.

On the most active list, Zetrix AI gained one sen to 78 sen, Hengyuan Refining Company was five sen higher at RM1.59, GDB inched up half-a-sen to 37.5 sen, Tanco and Velesto were flat at RM1.53 and 32 sen, respectively, while AirAsia X fell 26 sen to RM1.42.

Top gainers included Nestle which jumped RM1.10 to RM108.10, Malaysian Pacific Industries bagged 54 sen to RM31.04, Press Metal soared 25 sen to RM7.65, and Malayan Cement increased 21 sen to RM8.33.

As for the top losers, Fraser & Neave tumbled 90 sen to RM33, Hong Leong Financial Group slid 42 sen to RM20.84, while Kelington and United Plantations slipped 20 sen each to RM4.91 and RM30.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased by 82.86 points to 12,517.33, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 88.22 points to 12,354.89, the FBM Emas Shariah Index put on 85.50 points to 12,173.74, the FBM 70 Index added 33.22 points to 17,187.48, and the FBM ACE Index declined by 9.36 points to 4,496.46.

By sector, the Financial Services Index increased 83.99 points to 20,852.77, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 2.44 points to 174.16, the Energy Index slid 1.67 points to 784.94, and the Plantation Index rose 48.24 points to 8,186.90.

The Main Market volume fell to 1.82 billion units valued at RM3.05 billion from Wednesday’s 2.20 billion units valued at RM3.54 billion.

Warrants turnover tumbled to 731.61 million units worth RM100.29 million from 922.48 million units worth RM125.75 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume slipped to 290.47 million units valued at RM104.73 million from 377.39 million units valued at RM126.46 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 370.22 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (245.44 million), construction (137.37 million), technology (200.85 million), financial services (122.70 million), property (196.37 million), plantation (23.58 million), real estate investment trusts (256.81 million), closed-end fund (78,600), energy (295.66 million), healthcare (81.42 million), telecommunications and media (50.07 million), transportation and logistics (41.51 million), utilities (36.27 million), and business trusts (463,900). — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — Bursa Malaysia Bhd has suspended intraday short-selling (IDSS) on AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) until 8.30am tomorrow after the counter dropped more than 15 per cent/15 sen from the reference price.

AAX share price dropped sharply by 26 sen or 15.48 per cent to RM1.42 sen at 4.10pm today. 

The shares opened today at RM1.73 sen.

At the time of writing, 80.52 million shares changed hands. — Bernama 

HONG KONG, March 5 — Airline shares rebounded on Thursday, as more flights took off from the Middle East, giving carriers some reprieve after US-Israeli strikes on Iran wiped billions of dollars off their market value earlier in the week.

Governments have scrambled to arrange flights out of the Middle East for tens of thousands of citizens stranded by the intensifying US and Israeli conflict that closed most of the region’s airspace due to the risk of missiles hitting planes.

Shares in Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways closed up 2.2 per cent, Qantas Airways rose 1 per cent and Korean Air Lines jumped 5.6 per cent. Japan Airlines closed down 1 per cent, paring the week’s losses.

Major Chinese carriers such as Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines fell between 1 per cent and 4 per cent in both Hong Kong and Shanghai as they stabilised.

“Asian airlines are highly sensitive to Iran’s situation due to exposure through routes and energy in both revenue and costs. Any news on shortening the duration of the war can easily turn sentiment,” said Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis.

Ticket prices soared on popular routes such as Australia to Europe after the closure of Dubai, the world’s busiest international airport, which normally handles more than 1,000 flights a day.

Emirates and Etihad Airways are now operating a limited number of services from Dubai and Abu Dhabi through the United Arab Emirates’ safe air corridors.

Qatar Airways said it would run limited relief flights from Thursday for stranded passengers departing from Muscat in Oman to six European destinations including London, Berlin and Rome as well as from Riyadh to Frankfurt.

These would be the airline’s first flights since Saturday, when its Doha hub was shut after the strikes on Iran, according to flight-tracking service Flightradar24.

By Thursday morning, Emirates flights had left Dubai for destinations such as Sydney, Hong Kong, Paris, Amsterdam, Toronto and Mumbai, data from the tracking service showed, though the vast majority of services remained cancelled.

The number of take-offs and landings at Dubai airport totalled 161 on Wednesday, Flightradar24 said, nearly double those of the previous day.

A US government charter flight was bringing Americans home from the Middle East, with additional flights being arranged from other regional locations, the US State Department said.

Since February 28, more than 17,500 Americans have returned to the United States from the Middle East.

Canada said it was working to repatriate stranded citizens on commercial flights and contracting charter flights.

In addition to upending travel, the escalating Middle East conflict has also reduced the world’s air cargo capacity by more than a fifth and driven up freight rates.

Asian airline shares rebound

Jet fuel prices have soared globally since the strikes on Iran, hitting an all-time high in Singapore on concerns of supply disruption, S&P Global Platts said on Thursday.

Nevertheless, many Asian airline shares rebounded from double-digit percentage drops in the past few days amid concerns over how long the conflict might last and the impact of surging oil prices.

“For now, I consider this rebound to be primarily short-term in nature, and its sustainability will still depend on the ongoing situation in the Iranian conflict,” said Kenny Ng, a securities strategist at China Everbright Securities International.

In a sign of possible relief, operatives from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence signalled openness to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to talks on ending the war, the New York Times said, citing officials briefed on the matter.

The restrictions on airspace forced airlines to reroute flights, load extra fuel or make additional refuelling stops to guard against sudden diversions or longer flights on safer routes.

Marooned tourists and some expatriates have also tried to find their own way out of the Middle East through Saudi Arabia or Oman, where the airspace remains open. — Reuters 

BEIJING, March 5 — China on Thursday released a new economic decarbonisation plan that seeks to put its carbon intensity reduction programme back on track, mainly by relying on its booming renewable sector to limit coal consumption and rein in emissions.

China’s new five-year plan, released on Thursday, called for it to reduce its carbon intensity, or carbon emissions per unit of gross domestic product, by 17 per cent from 2026 to 2030. It also outlined targets to reach peak coal and replace 30 million metric tonnes per year of coal with renewables, but did not put further overall limits on coal consumption.

During the five-year plan that ended last year, China reduced its carbon intensity by 12 per cent, missing its target of 18 per cent.

In 2026, it plans to cut its carbon intensity by around 3.8 per cent, according to a report from China’s top state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). China has said it expects that its carbon emissions will peak before 2030.

The new carbon intensity goal is still “alarmingly lax,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, co-founder of the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), who said it would allow emissions to increase by 3 per cent to 6 per cent over the next five years given China’s economic growth target.

If China kept its emissions stable or declining as it has done for nearly the past two years, that would imply carbon intensity reductions of “well over 20 per cent” by 2030, Myllyvirta said.

CREA research previously found that China would need to aim for a 23 per cent cut over the next five years to meet a Paris Agreement commitment to reduce carbon intensity by more than 65 per cent by 2030 as compared to 2005.

Still, the new carbon intensity target would not be easy to achieve, said Yao Zhe, a Beijing-based policy advisor for Greenpeace East Asia, pointing to continued energy demand growth needed to fuel Chinese manufacturing.

“The focus increasingly shifts to more challenging areas — decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors, integrating a much larger share of renewables into the power system and building a more flexible and resilient electricity system,” said Muyi Yang, a senior energy analyst for Ember, an energy think tank.

In the next five years, China will also introduce a mandatory minimum quota system for renewable energy consumption, the NDRC report said.

“As China’s economy continues to grow and energy efficiency stagnates, how quickly carbon intensity is reduced largely depends on how much renewable energy can be supplied,” Yao said.

In a speech to the United Nations last year, President Xi Jinping said China would increase its wind and solar power capacity, already the world’s largest, by six times from 2020 levels to 3,600 gigawatts by 2035. But China is expected to exceed that target based on current capacity building levels.

China has not yet released an outright emissions reduction target for 2030.

Last year, Xi said in a speech to the United Nations that China would peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and reduce emissions by 7 per cent to 10 per cent by 2035.

China’s carbon emissions fell 0.3 per cent last year thanks to reductions in the transport, power, cement and metals sectors, but it is not yet clear whether emissions will go up again before peaking.

This year marks the beginning of a planned shift from focusing on controlling the energy intensity of its economy to focusing on carbon intensity.

The so-called “dual control” system will bring the introduction of industry, company and project-level carbon emissions controls, according to the five-year plan.

The NDRC said that efforts would be made to phase out outdated coal-fired equipment and facilities. The five-year plan said China would promote carbon reductions in key industries through limiting their use of coal.

The plan also said China would push to peak its coal as well as its oil consumption over the period. But that implied a retreat from previous commitments to not only peak but also phase down coal consumption during the period. — Reuters 

SEOUL, March 5 — South Korea’s president ordered the activation of a US$68 billion (RM268 billion) market stabilisation fund Thursday, citing the need to smooth out volatility caused by war in the Middle East.

“The escalating crisis in the Middle East is significantly worsening the global economic and security environment,” President Lee Jae Myung said.

“First, we must respond proactively to heightened volatility in financial markets, including equities and foreign exchange.”

Lee said the programme would “pre-empt instability” in capital markets.

But he stressed it would not be used to “directly prop-up stock prices”.

“If structurally there is no problem, it is meant to correct temporary abnormalities when they occur, not to artificially support prices.”

The programme includes funds earmarked for government and corporate bonds.

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index fell around 19 per cent on Tuesday and Wednesday.

But it bounced back as much as 12 per cent Thursday, leading a global rebound from the week’s turmoil.

Until the end of last week, the index had soared around 50 per cent this year — having hit multiple records — as the rush to snap up all things linked to artificial intelligence boosted tech firms, particularly chip makers Samsung and SK hynix.

South Korea is the fourth-largest importer of crude oil in the world, according to US government figures, and relies heavily on fuel shipped from the Middle East. — AFP 

SEOUL, March 5 — South Korea’s chip industry is concerned that a prolonged Iranian crisis will disrupt supplies of key materials from the Middle East and increase chip prices due to a spike in energy costs, a ruling party lawmaker said on Thursday.

The chip industry also warned the crisis could deal a setback to plans by big tech firms to build AI data centres in the Middle East for the longer term, thus weighing on strong chip demand, Kim Young-bae said.

Kim made the comment after meeting with executives from companies such as Samsung Electronics, the world’s top memory chipmaker, and business and trade groups.

“We say the semiconductor supercycle has arrived, but data centre plans are highly likely to be disrupted, potentially creating problems with chip demand,” he said at a briefing with reporters.

“Officials raised a possibility that semiconductor production could be disrupted if some of these key materials cannot be sourced from the Middle East,” he said.

The chip industry is worried that the Iran crisis could disrupt supplies of some key chip-making materials like helium from the Middle East, Kim said.

Helium is essential for heat management during semiconductor production and it has no viable alternatives currently.

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix said in a statement that it had sufficient helium inventory and did not expect disruption to its procurement.

Samsung Electronics declined to comment.

Industry officials said chipmakers have diversified their material sourcing as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have persisted for years, and many have secured supplies in advance as a precaution.

Data centres

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have benefited from surging prices of memory chips, driven by a global race among tech firms to build AI data centres.

Amazon said on Monday some of its data centres in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were damaged by drone strikes in the Middle East conflict, sparking questions around Big Tech’s pace of expansion in the region.

US tech giants like Microsoft and Nvidia have been positioning the UAE as a regional hub for artificial intelligence computing needed to power services such as ChatGPT.

Iran fired a barrage of drones and missiles at Gulf states in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday. — Reuters 

BEIJING, March 5 — China has told its largest oil refiners to suspend exports of diesel and gasoline, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, as the war in the Middle East increasingly risks an energy supply crunch.

China is a net importer of oil and is one of several major Asian economies that depend on the vital Strait of Hormuz, where traffic is currently blocked, for energy.

The Middle East was the source of 57 percent of China’s direct seaborne crude imports in 2025, according to analytics firm Kpler.

Officials from China’s top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, met with refinery representatives “and verbally called for a temporary suspension of refined product shipments that would begin immediately”, Bloomberg said Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

“The refiners were asked to stop signing new contracts and to negotiate the cancellation of already-agreed shipments,” the report said.

PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC, Sinochem Group and private refiner Zhejiang Petrochemical regularly obtain fuel export quotas from the government, Bloomberg said. — AFP 

BEIJING, March 5 — China set the country’s lowest annual growth target in decades on Thursday at its yearly Two Sessions parliamentary gathering, where the government will unveil its plans to tackle sluggish consumption and a flagging property market.

For 2026, China expects growth of 4.5 to 5 per cent, according to a government work report issued Thursday, “with efforts in actual work to strive for even better results”.

In 2025, it had set a target of around five per cent.

This year’s is the lowest target in decades, barring 2020, when no goal was set as the economy reeled from the Covid-19 pandemic.

China’s leaders say the economic model must shift away from traditional drivers like exports and manufacturing, and towards consumption-based growth.

Other “main projected targets for development” in 2026 include an increase in the consumer price index of around two per cent, and “growth in residents’ income in step with economic growth”. — AFP 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Thursday, tracking positive overnight Wall Street performance as easing oil prices and upbeat economic data soothed concerns over the US-Iran geopolitical crisis.

At 9.16am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.86 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 1,702.08 from Wednesday’s close of 1,698.22, after opening 8.03 points higher at 1,706.25.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering losers 318 to 151, while 314 counters were unchanged, 1,839 untraded and 11 suspended.

Turnover stood at 233.52 million shares worth RM159.55 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said buying interest was likely to continue, with banking heavyweights remaining in focus. The favourable US-Malaysia rate differential and a stronger ringgit should benefit banking assets.

The brokerage also expects crude oil prices to stabilise above US$80 (RM315) per barrel in the near term, potentially supporting upstream oil and gas players such as Hibiscus.

“We anticipate sustained buying interest in Velesto following several project wins. While clients are increasingly procuring solar materials and ATAP payback periods remain longer, solar contractors now offer value, with LSS packages continuing as a key focus,” it said in a research note today.

Among heavyweights, Maybank, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare rose four sen each to RM11.70, RM4.88 and RM9.00, respectively, while Hong Leong Bank was flat at RM23.06 and CIMB eased one sen to RM7.94.

On the most active list, NexG rose 3.5 sen to 30.5 sen, Capital A edged up half-a-sen to 50.5 sen. Pharmaniaga and Capital A were flat at 27.5 sen and 18 sen, respectively, while Bumi Armada fell half-a-sen to 35 sen and Hengyuan Refining Company declined two sen to RM1.52.

Top gainers included Nestle, which advanced RM1.50 to RM108.50, Malaysian Pacific Industries up 56 sen to RM31.06, United Plantations gained 16 sen to RM30.36, and Malayan Cement added 14 sen to RM8.26.

Top losers were Ajinomoto and Hong Leong Industries, each down eight sen to RM13.40 and RM17.30, while TNB slipped six sen to RM14.10.

On the index board, the FBM T100 Index rose 35.76 points to 12,302.42, the FBM Emas Index gained 36.23 points to 12,470.70, the FBM 70 Index added 85.40 points to 17,239.66, the FBM Emas Shariah Index grew 29.76 points to 12,118.00, and the FBM ACE Index climbed 27.80 points to 4,533.62.

By sector, the Financial Services Index added 65.69 points to 20,834.47, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 1.20 points to 172.92, the Energy Index gained 1.60 points to 788.21, and the Plantation Index increased 11.06 points to 8,149.72. — Bernama 

WASHINGTON, March 5 — A US trade court judge on Wednesday ordered the government to begin paying potentially billions of dollars in refunds to importers who paid tariffs that the Supreme Court said last month were collected illegally.

Judge Richard Eaton of the US Court of International Trade in Manhattan ordered the government to finalize the cost of bringing millions of shipments into the US without assessing a tariff, according to a court filing. He ordered the refunds to be made with interest.

When merchandise is brought into the United States, an importer pays an estimated amount at entry which is then finalized around 314 days later, a process known as liquidation. Eaton directed Customs and Border Protection to finalise the entry cost on shipments without the tariff being assessed, resulting in a refund.

“Customs knows how to do this,” he told a court hearing on Wednesday, according to a recording on the court’s website. He said the agency should be able to program its system to issue refunds, which are regularly issued when an importer overpays on an estimated duty.

“They do it every day. They liquidate entries and make refunds,” he said.

Eaton also set a hearing for Friday in which he asked for updates on CBP’s refund plans. He said in his order that the court’s chief judge indicated that Eaton is the only judge who will hear tariff refund cases.

Customs and Border Protection has said in court filings that the task of finalising entry costs without assessing a tariff was “unprecedented” in scale and could require manual review of more than 70 million entries. The agency had said in other court filings it wanted up to four months to assess its options for paying refunds.

CBP did not respond to a request for comment.

“The language in this order strongly suggests an across-the-board approach that importers are entitled to IEEPA refunds, full stop,” Ryan Majerus, a former senior Commerce official who is now a partner with King & Spalding, said. “The government may challenge the order’s scope or, at minimum, ask for more time to enable US Customs to undertake what will undoubtedly be a monumental task here.”

The US government collected more than US$130 billion (RM512 billion) in illegal tariff payments, which were central to Trump’s trade policy. The Supreme Court did not provide guidance for issuing refunds, creating confusion over how importers would be reimbursed.

The order by Eaton came in a case brought by Atmus Filtration, which said in court filings it paid about US$11 million in the illegal tariffs.

Attorneys for Atmus did not respond to a request for comment.

Atmus’ lawsuit is among the roughly 2,000 that have been filed with the trade court seeking a refund of the tariffs imposed under IEEPA, or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Eaton said he did not want to have to hear each case. “We want to work out a method by which those importers can make a claim for duties that were unlawfully applied.”

More than 300,000 importers paid the tariffs. The vast majority of importers are smaller businesses and they are hoping that Customs officials adopt a simple, low-cost system to pay reimbursements. Many told Reuters they might abandon their refund if they had to sue or go through a cumbersome Customs administrative process.

“There should be no impediment to CBP issuing refunds,” said George Tuttle, a trade attorney. — Reuters 

HONG KONG, March 5 — China and Hong Kong stocks rose in early trade on Thursday after Beijing slightly tempered its annual economic growth target, signalling a shift towards economic rebalancing.

China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index gained nearly 1 per cent in the opening hour, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.5 per cent.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 1.3 per cent, after hitting a six-month low in the previous session.

China set its economic growth target for 2026 at 4.5 per cent-5 per cent, a slight downgrade from the 5 per cent pace achieved last year, which leaves room for bigger efforts to curb industrial overcapacity and rebalance the economy.

The country’s 15th five-year plan also pledged investments in innovation, high-tech industries, scientific research and a increase in household consumption as a share of economic output.

The CSI Artificial Intelligence Index and CSI Semiconductor Industry Index were up 2.4 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively, among the best winners. — Reuters 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — The ringgit opened marginally higher against the US dollar on Thursday as traders shifted focus to the overnight policy rate (OPR) announcement later in the day, despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

At 8am, the local currency traded at 3.9340/9450 against the greenback, compared with Wednesday’s close of 3.9395/9465.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said Bank Negara Malaysia is widely expected to keep the OPR unchanged, with markets focused on the central bank’s assessment of recent geopolitical developments in the Middle East.

“Markets will be watching the OPR decision later today. The accompanying statement will set the direction of monetary policy going forward,” he told Bernama.

On the recent surge in global oil prices, Mohd Afzanizam said crude markets remain driven by developments in the Middle East.

He noted that Malaysia’s revenue is now far less dependent on oil, which is projected to contribute about 12.5 per cent in 2026, compared with more than 40 per cent in 2009.

“Malaysia is therefore somewhat insulated from an oil price shock. However, the country imports oil for domestic consumption, while most of its higher-grade crude is exported at better premiums. This could explain why the ringgit remains relatively resilient,” he added.

On Wednesday, the ringgit traded in a tight range of RM3.9378 to RM3.9540 against the US dollar, and he expects similar conditions to persist on Thursday as traders remain in risk-off mode.

At the open, the ringgit was mixed against major currencies.

It was flat against the Japanese yen at 2.5062/5134 from 2.5062/5108 previously, strengthened against the British pound to 5.2594/2741 from 5.2640/2733, but eased versus the euro to 4.5772/5900 from 4.5738/5819.

The local currency was firmer against most Asean peers.

It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0857/0946 from 3.0864/0921 at Wednesday’s close, gained versus the Thai baht to 12.4494/4925 from 12.5246/5541, appreciated against the Indonesian rupiah to 232.8/233.6 from 233.1/233.7, and edged up against the Philippine peso to 6.71/6.74 from 6.72/6.74. — Bernama 

TOKYO, March 5 — Oil prices rose nearly two per cent in early Asian trade on Thursday off the back of persistent worries about supplies because of the Middle East conflict.

At around 2310 GMT West Texas Intermediate, having closed barely changed on Wednesday at US$74.66 (RM294) per barrel, was up 1.86 per cent at US$76.05 per barrel.

Brent North Sea Crude, which ended the previous day flat at US$81.40 per barrel, was not being traded.

The conflict between the United States and Iran that began on Saturday has effectively closed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

A fifth of the world’s seaborne crude oil travels through the waterway as well as considerable volumes of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

President Donald Trump sought to allay concerns about oil supplies being choked off, saying Tuesday that the US Navy was ready to escort oil tankers and that the United States would offer shippers insurance.

The Omani navy rescued on Wednesday 24 crew members of a Malta-flagged container ship struck by missiles while transiting the strait, state media said.

It was the fourth reported attack in regional waters within 24 hours, after projectiles struck or landed near three other vessels off the Emirati and Omani coasts.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday they had “complete control” over the vital waterway.

US equities finished solidly higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 up 0.8 per cent, and European markets also gained ground. Asian stocks fell sharply however. — AFP 

SHANGHAI, March 5 — In a Shanghai shopping centre, customers browsed racks of used winter coats, US$2 (RM7.90) trousers and household appliances — pre-used items that would have been out of place in a major Chinese mall a decade ago.

But these days, stagnating wages, youth unemployment and a years-long property crisis are making consumers rethink their spending.

China’s leaders will likely announce policies aimed at boosting domestic consumption at the annual Two Sessions political conclave this week, but they face an uphill battle.

“Everyone is feeling the pinch financially, so everyone is looking for cheaper stuff,” said Liu, a 42-year-old secondhand book buyer visiting the Shanghai store.

A longstanding taboo in Chinese culture against used goods, seen as unclean or a shameful sign of poverty, is lifting rapidly.

“Getting a free milk tea is better than paying full price for it,” Liu, who gave only her surname, offered as an analogy for her outlook.

Online, the secondhand market is flourishing too, led by Xianyu, the Alibaba-owned answer to eBay with more than 600 million users, and Zhuanzhuan, a Tencent-backed resale platform known mainly for electronics.

Xianyu opened a physical location in 2024 and has expanded to more than 20 sites nationwide.

Its stores resemble European charity shops, with plush toys displayed alongside strollers and sneakers in varying states of wear — a novel concept in a country where the upwardly mobile have typically prized the latest luxury goods

Zhuanzhuan, which runs hundreds of small resale counters across the country, opened an enormous warehouse-like store in Beijing last year selling everything from gaming equipment to handbags.

Chinese shoppers are becoming more eco-friendly, Li Yujun, founder of a used goods store in Shanghai, told AFP.

Still, she said low prices were a major draw, with good quality secondhand items priced at 30 to 60 per cent of the original cost.

“A lot of communities are organising flea markets,” Lin, a 37-year-old shopper, told AFP.

“We can buy (useful things) at very good prices.”

Subdued festive season 

Consumption has remained stubbornly sluggish post-pandemic despite government efforts to coax spending.

The Two Sessions come just after Lunar New Year, which was extended into a nine-day public holiday aimed at encouraging people to spend on tourism and leisure.

Despite a record-breaking 596 million domestic trips throughout the holiday, tourism spending per capita was 8.8 per cent below pre-pandemic levels and 0.2 per cent down from last year, Goldman Sachs analysts said.

After taking a train home to her native Hebei province, Beijing resident Hua Lei told AFP she would observe a subdued festive season.

“I usually just stay inside when I come home, I don’t go out and about very much,” the 34-year-old said.

Chai Lihong, another passenger, was travelling to her son-in-law’s home in Hebei’s Baoding city.

“We took the green train, the slowest kind,” she said. “The high-speed rail is perhaps a bit expensive for rural residents.”

Authorities have held back from mass issuing stimulus checks and have tried instead to entice shoppers with subsidies and coupons limited to certain types of purchases.

However, subsidies promoting trade-in purchases for cars and appliances “have had limited effect, bringing forward spending that would have taken place anyway and leading people to curb spending elsewhere”, Duncan Wrigley from Pantheon Macroeconomics told AFP.

‘Pretty scary’ 

At a mall dedicated to home furnishings in central Shanghai, a furniture seller who did not want to give her name told AFP she had not seen much impact on business.

“You have to enter a competition to win the coupons,” she said, adding her daughter had had to enlist 10 friends for a coupon lucky draw to buy a bed.

She pointed to the largely empty shopping centre, which she said in past years would have been filled with customers immediately after the New Year period.

“The market situation is pretty scary right now,” she said.

Allen Feng from think tank Rhodium Group warned of diminishing returns from subsidies, as “they don’t create income”.

The International Monetary Fund has urged Beijing to expand healthcare, pensions and social benefits to improve consumer willingness to spend.

Other economists have championed more direct incentives.

Zhu Tian of Shanghai’s China Europe International Business School suggests authorities could issue a one-off handout of four trillion yuan (US$580 billion) split across the entire population.

Analysts anticipate stimulus policies from the Two Sessions, with leaders saying in October they would “work toward improving living standards while increasing consumer spending”.

Authorities are now “talking about boosting consumption propensity, which is the right way to think about it”, said Feng. — AFP 

LONDON, March 4 — The airline and tourism industries scrambled to deal with the fallout from the escalating US and Israeli air war against Iran, while governments rushed to bring stranded travellers home from the Middle East following the cancellation of more than 20,000 flights in recent days.

Major Gulf hubs including Dubai, the world’s busiest international airport, remained closed or severely restricted for a fourth day, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded. According to Flightradar24, some 21,300 flights have been cancelled at seven major airports including Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi since the strikes started.

The attacks have upended travel across a growing region with several thriving business hubs that are trying to diversify away from oil-dominated economies. The turmoil also narrows an already-slim flight corridor for long-haul flights between Europe and Asia, complicating operations for global air carriers.

Stranded travellers across the Gulf rushed to secure seats on a limited number of repatriation flights as governments moved to bring passengers home even as explosions tore through Tehran and Beirut. Emirates, flydubai and Etihad have been operating a limited number of flights since Monday, mostly to repatriate stranded passengers.

“It’s pretty well the biggest shutdown we’ve seen certainly since the Covid pandemic,” said Paul Charles, CEO of luxury travel consultancy PC Agency, adding that beyond passenger disruption the cargo impact would run to “billions of dollars.”

Many passenger airlines also move cargo in their aircraft bellies, resulting in disruptions to air freight. Cargo specialist FedEx said by email it was using “contingency measures” it did not describe in the Middle East, after saying earlier in the day that it had resumed pickup and delivery services in the region where possible.

Emergency evacuations

The United Arab Emirates government said 60 flights had taken off, operating in dedicated emergency air corridors. The next phase will be operating more than 80 flights.

The United States is securing military and charter flights to evacuate Americans from the Middle East, a US State Department official said on X on Tuesday, adding that it was in contact with nearly 3,000 US citizens. The department was under fire from US lawmakers who said the Trump administration should have advised people to leave before the attacks started.

Delta Air Lines said on Tuesday it paused New York-Tel Aviv flights through March 22 because of the conflict and was offering rebooking options and a travel waiver for affected customers through March 31.

Demand for alternatives to Gulf airlines has surged, with bookings and ticket prices jumping on routes like Hong Kong-London, Reuters’ checks showed on Tuesday. Should the conflict drag on, it could cost the Middle East billions in tourism dollars, analysts estimate.

“We can’t get home, we can’t go back to work, we can’t get the kids back to school,” said Tatiana Leclerc, a French tourist stuck in Thailand, whose flight had been set to go via the Middle East hubs that are a key link between Asia and Europe.

In an early sign of a thaw, Virgin Atlantic said on Tuesday it would resume services as scheduled between London’s Heathrow Airport and Dubai or Riyadh.

Airline stocks slip

Shares of air carriers worldwide fell on Tuesday. The operational and financial effect varies significantly among airlines, said Karen Li, JP Morgan’s head of Asia infrastructure, industrials and transport research.

“There are important differences across carriers in terms of hedging strategy, air cargo exposure, and network rerouting capabilities that will shape the actual impact from the Middle East situation,” Li said.

Oil prices have surged amid the widening conflict. Benchmark crude is up roughly 30 per cent so far this year, threatening to lift jet fuel costs and squeeze airline profits. Most US airlines long ago gave up on hedging fuel purchases, their second-largest operating cost behind labour.

In its latest annual filing, Delta said every one-cent increase in the price of jet fuel per gallon added about US$40 million (RM158 million) to its yearly fuel bill. A 10 per cent increase would add US$1 billion to Delta’s 2026 fuel bill, Third Bridge analyst Peter McNally said.

Shares of most US carriers ended lower, with Southwest down about 1 per cent and Alaska Air off roughly 2 per cent.

In Europe, shares of Wizz Air, British Airways owner IAG, Lufthansa and Air France KLM ended down 5 per cent to 8 per cent.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary told Reuters the airline was hedged for the next 12 months at about US$67 a barrel and that the recent fluctuations would not impact the business. Its stock fell 2.2 per cent on Tuesday.

Qantas Airways CEO Vanessa Hudson said the airline has “pretty good” fuel hedging but the spike in oil prices was significant for the industry. The Australian airline’s shares fell 1.8 per cent.

Shares of Japan Airlines closed down 6.4 per cent, while Korean Air Lines dropped 10.3 per cent, its biggest fall since March 2020, as it resumed trading after a public holiday on Monday.

Shares of major Chinese carriers including Air China and China Southern Airlines, 1055.HK lost between 2 per cent and 4 per cent in Hong Kong and Shanghai. — Reuters 

NEW YORK, March 4 — Energy prices have surged dramatically since the United States and Israel launched their attack on Iran Saturday, and that will almost certainly translate into bigger profits.

But the question remains whether the new war in the Middle East also leads to increased oilfield investment.

What does the Middle East war mean for US oil industry profits? 

Geopolitical crises lift oil industry profits if a supply disruption causes commodity prices to spike. That’s what happened after Russia invaded Ukraine.

In the third quarter of 2022, ExxonMobil and Chevron reported more than US$30 billion in profits between the two companies. The results were boosted by a surge in crude and natural gas prices.

Brent oil futures briefly surged above US$85 (RM336) a barrel Tuesday, while European natural gas prices reached their highest level since 2023.

These increases show the market’s response to the effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway accounting for some 20 per cent of global crude supplies. The jump in the natural gas market is due to QatarEnergy’s suspension of liquefied natural gas (LNG) production.

“Certainly, the producers get a benefit when prices go up like this,” said Again Capital’s John Kilduff. “This will definitely help their bottom lines.”

The question is whether commodity prices will stay high.

Will US companies invest to produce more oil and natural gas? 

Energy industry analysts don’t expect companies to drill more wells or increase capital budgets unless they conclude the outages will be lengthy. Investments in projects that don’t come online for months or years requires confidence prices will stay high.

“What US companies would need to see would be a sustained higher price,” said Dan Pickering of Pickering Energy partners in Houston, who thinks oil prices could reach US$100 a barrel if the Strait of Hormuz stays empty for a meaningful duration.

But such a lengthy outage is far from a sure thing.

President Donald Trump — closely attuned to the political implications of gasoline prices ahead of mid-term elections — said Tuesday that the US navy would escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz if needed, and ordered Washington to provide insurance for shipping.

The announcement prompted a modest pullback in oil prices, which finished below session highs.

Oil prices could retreat further if the United States, China and other countries tap emergency stockpiles, said Ken Medlock, a fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston.

Futures markets currently show oil prices retreating gradually in the second half of 2026, implying “the market is seeing it as a short-term” disruption, Medlock said.

How much could US energy supply grow and where would investments go? 

While the US energy industry is poised to benefit from Middle East oil and gas outages, the United States “cannot simply ‘flip a switch’ to replace large, sudden Middle Eastern outages,” said Brian Kessens, portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital.

Some elements of the petroleum industry have already benefited from the upheaval. Kessens said refined products dislocated by the Hormuz outage has boosted profit margins for Gulf Coast refiners.

Other short-term winners include LNG exporters who have capacity not committed in contracts.

Despite this, “meaningful incremental supply typically requires months to years,” Kessens said.

Among the potential upstream oil and gas candidates, analysts said the most likely pick for incremental additional investment would be shale properties such as the Permian Basin in the US, where oil companies are already active and which have a shorter payback compared with other prospects.

“The focus would be on short-cycle, quick results activity. US shale, maybe a little bit of Venezuela,” Pickering said. “Then it would move to longer-term projects like exploration and offshore.” — AFP 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — The ringgit snapped a three-day losing streak to close higher against the US dollar on Wednesday, supported by renewed demand for the local currency, although trading remained range-bound as traders and investors stayed cautious in view of geopolitical risks.

At 6pm, the ringgit rose by 0.09 per cent to 3.9395/9465 versus the greenback from 3.9440/9495 at Tuesday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said markets are watching how the US-Israeli war on Iran could affect the global economy, especially inflation.

He told Bernama that countries that rely on oil imports from the Middle East, including Asian countries such as China, India, Japan and South Korea, could face disruptions in crude oil supplies which, in turn, can affect their domestic fuel prices.

According to him, the main question is how severe and how long the war would be. Hence, the risk-off mode continues to prevail, he said.

“Tomorrow, Bank Negara Malaysia’s Monetary Policy Committee will decide the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) and we opine that the rate is going stick at 2.75 per cent.

“More importantly, the market would want to see their latest assessment on the Iran war and its implication on the global and domestic economies,” he said.

At the close, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

It strengthened versus the euro to 4.5738/5819 from 4.5778/5842 at Tuesday’s close but fell against the British pound to 5.2640/2733 from 5.2451/2524 yesterday and slipped vis-à-vis the Japanese yen to 2.5062/5108 from 2.5010/5048 previously.

The local note traded mixed against its Asean peers.

It eased versus the Singapore dollar at 3.0864/0921 from 3.0863/0909 at the previous close and slipped vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 12.5246/5541 from 12.4401/4637.

However, the ringgit appreciated against the Indonesian rupiah to 233.1/233.7 from 233.7/234.2 yesterday and firmed versus the Philippine peso to 6.72/6.74 from 6.75/6.76. — Bernama 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — Bursa Malaysia ended broadly lower on Wednesday, tracking declines across regional markets, with South Korea posting one of the sharpest drops as investors reacted to widening geopolitical fallout.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 13.73 points, or 0.80 per cent, to 1,698.22 from Tuesday’s close of 1,711.95.

The benchmark index opened 0.52 of-a-point weaker at 1,711.43 and moved between 1,694.75 and 1,713.19 throughout the session.

Market breadth was negative, with 945 losers trouncing 257 gainers, while 446 counters were unchanged, 974 untraded and 10 suspended.

Turnover rose to 3.51 billion units worth RM3.79 billion from 3.31 billion units valued at RM3.67 billion on Tuesday.  

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said the key development weighing on markets was reports that US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a full trade embargo on Spain after the European and Nato ally refused to allow the US military aircraft to use its bases for operations linked to potential strikes on Iran.

He added that the development had heightened concerns that the conflict could widen beyond the Middle East, increasing geopolitical and trade uncertainties and prompting investors to scale back exposure to equities, including those in Malaysia.

“Interestingly, foreign investors remained net buyers in Bursa Malaysia over the past two trading sessions (Monday and Tuesday), suggesting that some funds continue to view the recent pullback as a potential entry opportunity despite rising global uncertainties,” Mohd Sedek told Bernama.

He added that in the near term, investors were likely to remain cautious and adopt a wait-and-see approach until there is greater clarity on the trajectory of the geopolitical situation.

Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 2.11 per cent to 4,812.75, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dipped 2.01 per cent to 25,249.48, Japan’s Nikkei 225 shrank 3.61 per cent to 54,245.54, and South Korea’s KOSPI slumped 12.06 per cent to 5,093.54. 

Among Bursa Malaysia’s heavyweights, Press Metal advanced six sen to RM7.40, Sunway Bhd increased eight sen to RM5.63, Maybank trimmed 18 sen to RM11.66, Public Bank declined five sen to RM4.84, and CIMB slipped seven sen to RM7.95. 

On the most active list, Hengyuan Refining Company jumped 19 sen to RM1.54, Capital A was flat at 50 sen, Bumi Armada erased 2.5 sen to 35.5 sen, and Velesto went down one sen to 32 sen. 

Top gainers included United Plantations which firmed 60 sen to RM30.20, PPB climbed 30 sen to RM10.90, and Malaysian Pacific Industries garnered eight sen to RM30.50.

As for the top losers, Nestle declined 50 sen to RM107, Allianz Malaysia slid 38 sen to RM21.36, Hong Leong Bank shaved off 34 sen to RM23.06, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong shed 30 sen to RM18.60. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 117.95 points to 12,434.47, the FBMT 100 Index fell 110.10 points to 12,266.66, the FBM Emas Shariah Index sank 83.60 points to 12,088.24, the FBM 70 Index tumbled 203.75 points to 17,154.26, and the FBM ACE Index declined by 109.94 points to 4,505.82.   

By sector, the Financial Services Index dipped 234.76 points to 20,768.78, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.49 of-a-point to 171.72, the Energy Index slid 15.50 points to 786.61, and the Plantation Index slipped 38.41 points to 8,138.66.   

The Main Market volume improved to 2.20 billion units valued at RM3.54 billion from 2.16 billion units valued at RM3.43 billion on Tuesday.   

Warrants turnover expanded to 922.48 million units worth RM125.75 million from 824.92 million units worth RM108.24 million yesterday. 

The ACE Market volume advanced to 377.39 million units valued at RM126.46 million against 328.84 million units valued at RM127.09 million previously.   

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 317.24 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (313.22 million), construction (134.85 million), technology (232.84 million), financial services (154.53 million), property (189.34 million), plantation (29.50 million), real estate investment trusts (26.27 million), closed-end fund (7,000), energy (515.44 million), healthcare (141.68 million), telecommunications and media (64.54 million), transportation and logistics (37.52 million), utilities (52.31 million), and business trusts (34,100). — Bernama 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — Lufthansa Airlines will begin nonstop flights between Frankfurt and Kuala Lumpur on October 25, 2026, expanding its South-east Asia network for the Winter 2026/27 season.

The service will operate five times weekly year-round — daily except Tuesdays and Thursdays — and is now open for booking.

Flight LH704 departs Frankfurt at 9.30pm, arriving in Kuala Lumpur at 4.40pm the next day. 

The return flight, LH705, leaves Kuala Lumpur at 11.55pm and lands in Frankfurt at 6am. 

The timings are aligned with Lufthansa’s global network via Frankfurt.

The route will be operated using a Boeing 787 Dreamliner featuring 287 seats across three classes, including the airline’s new Allegris cabin.

Lufthansa Airlines chief executive officer Jens Ritter said the new connection positions the airline to tap into South-east Asia’s growth, noting Malaysia’s strong tourism and trade ties with Germany.

Malaysia recorded 42.2 million visitors in 2025 and is Germany’s largest trading partner in the European Union, with more than 700 German companies operating in the country.

Kuala Lumpur will be Lufthansa Group’s third South-east Asian destination, alongside Bangkok, Singapore and Phuket.