Central Pattana Pcl, Thailand’s largest shopping mall developer, plans to invest more than 120 billion baht (US$3.6 billion or RM15.75 billion) in the next five years to build new retail plazas, office buildings and other properties, amid rising urbanisation and booming tourism.

Top Thai mall builder plans US$3.6b five-year expansion

Thailand plans to halve the number of days it allows foreign tourists to stay without visas to 30 days as the Southeast Asian nation cracks down on travellers exploiting the waiver to engage in illegal businesses, according to Tourism and Sports Minister Sorawong Thienthong.

Thailand plans to cut tourists’ visa-free stays to 30 days

Thailand’s steelmakers are asking their government for more protection as President Donald Trump’s import tariffs stir global fears about a glut of metal looking for other markets.

Steel’s tariff wars put Thai industry in ‘critical situation’

An ambitious campaign to revive Thailand’s battered stock market is falling flat, as entrenched pessimism about the economy accelerates a foreign funds exodus.

World’s biggest stock rout deepens as Thai market rescue falters

Thailand’s largest meat producer Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL will accelerate the initial public offering (IPO) and listing of its biggest offshore unit to fund expansion.

Biggest Thai meat producer to speed up IPO of offshore unit

Thailand will probe allegations of irregularities in a US$200 million (RM885.6 million) property purchase by the state agency that manages social security contributions of about 25 million workers.

Thailand orders probe into US$76b fund’s property deal

Thailand will provide tax incentives for investments in the nation’s equity market that has underperformed peers this year amid foreign outflows.

Thailand offers tax incentives to bolster slumping stock market

A Thai developer of hotels and shopping malls controlled by the country’s second-richest man plans to double its assets over the next five years on expectation tourism growth and economic recovery will drive demand for accommodation and office space.

Thai tycoon’s property unit plans to double assets to US$9 bil

Thailand’s stock exchange will tighten curbs on short selling and high-frequency trading as it attempts to revive investor confidence in the world’s worst performing equity market.

Thailand to curb short selling, high-speed trades amid selloff

Five years after Thai Airways International Pcl filed for bankruptcy protection, the state-controlled carrier’s court-appointed debt administrator Piyasvasti Amranand is planning an aggressive international expansion.

Thai Airways set to emerge from debt with plan to double fleet

China plans to add to its strategic reserves of key industrial metals this year, an effort to boost the resilience of critical minerals supply at time when energy-transition demand is increasing and geopolitical tensions are running high.

China to add cobalt, copper in boost to state metal reserves

For months, President Prabowo Subianto’s moves to chip away at Indonesia’s long-established economic guardrails have stoked anxiety in markets. This week’s sudden rout suggests investor patience is wearing thin.

Prabowo faces investor revolt over Indonesia’s economic path

South Korean chemicals companies are racing to tap new markets after racking up hundreds of millions of dollars in losses in the face of a deluge of capacity from China, their biggest market.

South Korean plastics giants struggle as China becomes a rival

Shares of Lim Seong Hai Capital Bhd (KL:LSH) fell 17% on its first-ever trades on the ACE Market after the construction firm raised RM168.08 million as part of its transfer from the LEAP Market.

Lim Seong Hai Capital opens 17% lower on ACE Market debut

From the Philippines to Senegal, billions of people are finding it easier to feed their families now that rice prices have plunged off 15-year highs.

Rice price drop brings relief to billions, risk for farmers

Japan's core inflation hit 3.0% in February and an index stripping away the effect of fuel rose at the fastest pace in nearly a year, a sign of broadening price pressure that reinforces market expectations of further interest rate hikes.

Japan's core inflation hits 3% in February, keeps alive BOJ rate-hike bets

MORNING CALL: 21/3/25

Oil advanced after the US ramped up measures to hobble Iran’s crude exports, increasing pressure on Tehran amid a push for a new nuclear accord.

Oil advances as US ramps up sanctions against Iranian crude

The Bank of Thailand, which has long resisted interest-rate cuts despite immense political pressure, may end up having to embark on the region’s most aggressive easing cycle as a sluggish economy takes a turn for the worse, according to analysts.

Thailand may yet embark on Southeast Asia's most aggressive rate cuts

Asian equities were primed to track declines on Wall Street as traders weighed the impact of a trade war against robust US housing and jobs data.

Asian stocks poised to fall as trade fears return

THERE is no denying that the Employees Provident Fund’s (EPF) 6.3% dividend declared for both conventional savings and shariah savings for 2024 is nothing short of spectacular and would have been celebrated with more vigour — if not for the lingering questions surrounding its seemingly untimely s...

Special Report: Dispelling aspersions surrounding EPF’s impressive 6.3% dividend for 2024

Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (KL: CMSB) has initiated legal action against its deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib over alleged breaches of trust and fiduciary duties in relation to a failed enterprise resource planning (ERP) system under the company’s digital transformation project.

Cahya Mata Sarawak sues deputy chairman Abu Bekir Taib, five others over failed project

Here is a brief recap of some business news and corporate announcements that made the headlines on Thursday.

Salcon, Scanwolf, Reservoir Link, Pharmaniaga, IJM, Lagenda Properties, Land & General, Hextar Global, Top Glove, Cahya Mata Sarawak, Iskandar Waterfront City

Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (KL:IWCITY) has proposed a regularisation plan involving the issuance of new shares to settle outstanding debts, a private placement and a capital reduction in order to exit its affected listed issuer status.

Iskandar Waterfront City unveils regularisation plan to convert debt into equity, issue new shares  

Asian equities were primed to track declines on Wall Street as traders weighed the impact of a trade war against robust US housing and jobs data.

The Bank of Thailand, which has long resisted interest-rate cuts despite immense political pressure, may end up having to embark on the region’s most aggressive easing cycle as a sluggish economy takes a turn for the worse, according to analysts.

Shares of Lim Seong Hai Capital Bhd (KL:LSH) fell 17% on its first-ever trades on the ACE Market after the construction firm raised RM168.08 million as part of its transfer from the LEAP Market.

Oil advanced after the US ramped up measures to hobble Iran’s crude exports, increasing pressure on Tehran amid a push for a new nuclear accord.

Scanwolf Corp Bhd (KL:SCNWOLF) has secured a RM42 million contract for sub-structure works on two commercial blocks in Jalan Ampang in a related-party transaction (RPT).

Scanwolf secures RM42 mil sub-structure contract for mixed-use project in KL in related-party deal

US stock indexes dropped on Thursday, as worries about the repercussions of an ongoing global trade war resurfaced, a day after the Federal Reserve left interest rate steady but warned of an uncertain economic backdrop.

Wall Street trips as tariff concerns resurface; US Fed boost short-lived 

A fresh bout of instability gripped the stock market as concern around the potential impacts of a trade war outweighed the latest housing and jobs data showing the world’s largest economy is still holding up.

US stocks halt Fed-fuelled rally as trade fear lingers

Lloyd’s Register, the maritime society formed in a London coffee house in 1760, has put its modern glass headquarters up for sale as it prepares to move back into the property built to house it more than a century ago.

Lloyd’s Register to sell modern tower and return to Victorian HQ

Apollo Global Management co-founder Marc Rowan will be called to testify for the defence in Charlie Javice’s trial on charges that she defrauded JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co in the bank’s US$175 million (RM775.75 million) acquisition of her student-finance startup, Frank.

Apollo’s Rowan to be first defence witness at Javice fraud trial

Micron Technology forecast third-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates on Thursday, signaling strong demand for its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI models, sending its shares up 2% in after-hours trading.

Micron forecasts upbeat quarterly revenue on strong AI memory chip demand

CoreWeave Inc, a cloud-computing provider that’s one of the hottest startups in artificial intelligence (AI), and some of its investors are seeking to raise as much as US$2.7 billion in an initial public offering (IPO).

AI cloud hosting firm CoreWeave launches US$2.7 bil IPO

A safety warning system went off in a Delta Air Lines regional jet before it landed and flipped belly-up at Canada's largest airport in February, indicating a fast rate of descent, the country's Transportation Safety Board (TSB) said on Thursday in a preliminary report on the accident.

Fast descent warning triggered on Delta jet that landed belly-up in Toronto

Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino said on Thursday that he didn't place any value on reports the US military is looking into options for ensuring full US access to the Panama Canal, since these reports came from unnamed sources.

Mulino dismisses reports of US military evaluating Panama Canal options

Brent crude futures are trading at a rare discount to Middle Eastern oil, with growing production in Europe and the Mediterranean heaping pressure onto markets for the high-quality oil that underpins the global benchmark.

Oil indicator flashes weakness in key Western crude markets

Sales of previously owned homes in the US unexpectedly bounced back in February, spurred by a greater supply of houses and improved weather heading into the crucial spring period. 
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Contract closings increased 4.2% to an annualised rate of 4.26 million in February, according to National Association of Realtors (NAR) figures released on Thursday. The figure exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

US existing-home sales top estimates, rebound from bad weather

eronimo Martins SGPS SA, Portugal’s biggest retailer by market value, is working on a strategic plan for the next five years that will involve boosting annual sales to as much as €50 billion (RM241.77 billion).

Anuchit Nguyen

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Anuchit Nguyen

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