KUALA LUMPUR (March 4): The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) has issued a warning of thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong winds affecting several states and two Federal Territories until 7pm on Wednesday. MetMalaysia, in a statement on Wednesday, said the states involved are Melaka, as well as several areas in Perak, Pahang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Johor. In Perak, the affected areas include Kinta, Kampar, Batang Padang and Muallim, while in Pahang, the warning covers Cameron Highlands, Lipis, Raub and Bentong. Selangor is also facing similar weather conditions in Hulu Selangor, Gombak, Petaling, Hulu Langat and Sepang, as well as the entire Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. Meanwhile, the warning for Negeri Sembilan includes Jelebu, Seremban, Port Dickson, Kuala Pilah, Rembau and Tampin.

The most-active aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SAFcv1 closed daytime trading 2.31% higher at 24,795 yuan (US$3,585.11) a metric ton. The benchmark three-month aluminium CMAL3 on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.6% to US$3,303 a ton as of 0700 GMT. "Prior to the conflict, our aluminium balance showed a deficit of around 600kt in 2026. Elsewhere, the most-active copper contract in Shanghai SCFcv1 declined 0.73% to 101,660 yuan a ton, and the benchmark copper CMCU3 was up 0.58% at US$13,030 a ton. Among other LME metals, zinc CMZN3 added 0.52%, lead CMPB3 rose 0.44%, nickel CMNI3 gained 1.2% and tin CMSN3 climbed 2.79%.

TOKYO (March 4): Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda said the central bank will continue to raise interest rates if its economic forecasts materialise, but warned of the potential hit to global growth from the Middle East conflict that required vigilance. Global stock prices fell as a widening conflict in the Middle East boosted safe-haven demand and pushed oil prices up sharply, exacerbating investor concerns about inflation. BOJ executives have signalled readiness to continue raising still-low interest rates, though offering few hints on how soon the next rate hike could come. Sources have told Reuters the fresh market volatility triggered by the Middle East conflict has heightened the chance the BOJ will hold off on raising rates in March. The BOJ has said it would focus on whether wage gains will broaden and give households purchasing power in judging how soon to raise interest rates.

(March 4): A Philippine congressional panel on Wednesday moved to advance two impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte, in a blow to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s political opponent. If approved, the impeachment complaint will be forwarded to the 24-member Senate, which acts as the trial court. The latest bid to impeach the vice president follows an unsuccessful attempt last year. Any citizen can file an impeachment complaint against top government officials in the Philippines, as long as a member of the House endorses it. The vice president is the daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who has been detained at the International Criminal Court since March last year.

The Reserve Bank of India intervened after the rupee breached the closely watched 92-per-dollar level, selling dollars to steady the currency, according to people familiar with the matter. The selloff in Indian assets mirrors a risk-off sentiment across the region, as traders remain anxious that crude oil prices may climb further following this. Asian stocks suffered their steepest drop in nearly a year, led by South Korea’s biggest plunge since the 2008 global financial crisis. For India, which imports nearly all its energy needs, higher crude prices risk reigniting inflation, which has been relatively subdued in recent months. He added that his year-end forecast of 93 for the rupee could materialise much sooner given the current risk-off sentiment.

JAKARTA (March 4): Multiple Indonesian local media reported on Wednesday that Fitch Ratings has downgraded Indonesia's sovereign credit rating outlook to negative from stable. News websites Detik.com and KataData reported the outlook cut citing a draft statement by Fitch, while investigative news outlet Tempo published a report citing an official Fitch statement. Detik.com reported that Fitch maintained Indonesia's rating at BBB, but revised the outlook due to increased policy uncertainty and concern over consistency and credibility of policy mix amid centralised policymaking. Rating agency Moody's last month cut its outlook for Indonesia to negative, citing reduced predictability in policymaking. Indonesia's finance ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports.

Taipei prosecutors said in a statement that Taiwan was one of the locations where Chen had funnelled illicit funds via shell companies, buying luxury goods, sports cars and real estate. More than T$5.5 billion in assets have been seized in Taiwan, the prosecutors' office added. In November, the Prince Group denied any wrongdoing in a statement issued via a US law firm. On Monday, Taiwan put 33 luxury cars, including Ferraris, up for auction after they were seized as part of the investigation. Authorities across Asia, including Singapore and Hong Kong, have also seized assets or detained individuals linked to the Prince Group.

New World was pushed to the brink of default last year after a debt-fuelled expansion collided with a deep property slump in Hong Kong and China. New World shares slid 5.2% as of 11.05am in Hong Kong. Within Hong Kong’s tycoon world, family legacy is honored, and future generations are responsible for protecting and carrying on the business. It also calls into question the role foreign investors play in helping to revive Hong Kong’s property market. The firm has built scores of apartment blocks throughout the city and owns iconic assets including the sprawling Victoria Dockside complex along Hong Kong’s harbour.

What is of particular interest is how these leagues handle the worst teams in their respective leagues. In the NBA, the worst teams in the league have the highest odds of high picks in the annual NBA Draft. The very best NBA players in history all came through the NBA Draft. Thus, this is the NBA’s way of ensuring that the worst teams get the talent boost they need to field a more competitive team. Prior to that, the first pick was determined by a coin flip between the worst teams in the Eastern and Western Conference.

(March 4): An Israeli strike on a four-storey residential building has killed at least four people and wounded six others in the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek with rescue teams working to pull families from beneath the rubble, state news agency NNA said on Wednesday. The strike was part of a sharp escalation in fighting along the Lebanese-Israeli border since Monday after Hezbollah fired drones and missiles at Israel. Since then, the Iran-aligned group has launched further rockets and Israel has carried out waves of air strikes across Lebanon and sent troops into the south. NNA also reported several Israeli strikes early on Wednesday, including one on a hotel and another on an apartment in eastern Lebanon. Lebanon's health ministry said on Tuesday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 50 people and wounded 335 since the latest escalation began.

(March 4): Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s tech lead for its Qwen open-source model is standing down, a surprise move that is rattling the global developer community and casting a shadow over the tech giant’s pivot into AI. The Qwen series of large language models are among the top-performing offerings globally, and serve as the technical foundation for a suite of consumer apps, including Alibaba’s newly revamped chatbot. He also set up a team working on robotics and embodied AI within Qwen last year. Before his announcement, Lin had been working on building generalist models at Alibaba since 2022. He served as tech lead for the Qwen large language and multimodal model series and oversaw its open-source initiatives, according to his LinkedIn profile.

(March 4): Goldman Sachs Group Inc chairman David Solomon said he’s been surprised by the “benign” reaction in financial markets to the Middle East conflict, adding that it will take weeks to understand more about the situation. “It’s very hard to speculate because there is so much that is unknown at this point,” Solomon said at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit in Sydney on Wednesday. “I look at the market reaction and I’m actually surprised,” Solomon said. Solomon said he wasn’t surprised to see the VIX Index spike and other volatility measures also climb. Solomon also addressed the tumult in the US$1.8 trillion private credit market, saying that while there have been a “handful” of idiosyncratic issues, that doesn’t mean the overall credit quality is a worry.

(March 3): Britain said on Tuesday it would block study visas ‌for nationals from four countries and halt work visas for Afghans, using what it called an "emergency brake" to curb rising asylum claims from people entering through legal routes. It also said claims by Afghans on work ​visas were now outstripping the number of visas issued. "That is why I am taking ​the unprecedented decision to refuse visas for those nationals seeking to exploit our generosity." Asylum claims trebling since 2021According to the government, asylum claims made after entering on legal visas have more than trebled since 2021 and ‌accounted for ⁠39% of the 100,000 people who applied last year. Britain has granted sanctuary to more than 37,000 Afghans through ​resettlement schemes since 2021 and issued about 190,000 humanitarian visas last year.

NEW YORK: Oil prices settled up 4.7% on Tuesday, the highest since January 2025, as US-Israel battles with Iran intensified, disrupting energy shipments from the Middle East and stoking fears of a longer conflict. Brent futures settled up US$3.66, or up 4.7%, at US$81.40 a barrel, its highest settlement since January 2025. US West Texas Intermediate crude settled up US$3.33, or 4.7%, at US$74.56, the highest settlement since June. 2 crude producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries behind Saudi Arabia, cut production by nearly 1.5 million barrels a day. Tankers and container ships are avoiding the Strait after insurers cancelled coverage for vessels and global oil and gas shipping rates soared.

Still, indexes finished well off their lows of the day, with the S&P 500 ending down 0.9% after falling more than 2% early in the session. Investors are concerned about the effect of the conflict, now in its fourth day, on inflation as oil prices extended sharp gains. In a potentially bearish signal, the S&P 500 closed below its 100-day moving average for the first time since November 20. Investors worry that the higher oil prices could fuel inflation and complicate central bank policy decisions already strained by tariff-driven price increases. On the Nasdaq, 1,262 stocks rose and 3,540 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.81-to-1 ratio.