In 2024, the local stock market posted its first annual return since 2020, outperforming the MSCI Asia Pacific and MSCI Asean indices, and raised hopes that the trend would continue into 2025. It has not — at least not in the first three months of the year.

Seeking opportunities in a risk-off market

Donald Trump’s 90-day reprieve on some tariffs sent the stock market soaring Wednesday. But the chaos sown by the president’s trade war means corporate America is planning for a recession.

CEOs brace for recession even after tariff reprieve boosts stocks

President Donald Trump called the bond market a thing of beauty on Wednesday. For traders of government debt, the day meant pure mayhem.

Trump’s tariff pause jolts yields in a ‘no-win’ bond market

Malaysian stocks staged a broad relief rally on Thursday after the US announced a pause to its reciprocal tariffs on some of its trading partners.

Malaysian stocks stage relief rally, KLCI up by over 60 points at open

US stocks posted the best day since the financial crisis after President Donald Trump paused some reciprocal tariffs in a move that jolted the bond market and lifted Asian equity futures.

Stocks surge in relief rally after Trump pauses tariffs

How to make Kuala Lumpur more liveable & lovable

MORNING CALL: 10/4/25

Oil prices surged from a four-year low on Wednesday and gold rallied in a broad-based commodities and equity market rebound after US President Donald Trump said he would temporarily lower recently enacted tariffs on dozens of countries while further increasing duties on China.

Energy, metals, grains surge after Trump tariff pause

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he will be talking to other world leaders by phone on Thursday to discuss how to shore up rules-based free trade, in the face of a barrage of US tariffs.

New Zealand PM prepares to speak to world leaders on buttressing free trade

The digital age, while offering unprecedented connectivity and convenience, has also ushered in a surge of online criminal activity, posing significant challenges to individuals and institutions alike. It is so often we hear of crimes happening online, from cyberbullying to various scams to harmful exploitation.

Strengthening online safety

Some Malaysian exporters of manufactured goods destined for the United States have temporarily halted shipments as they await clearer information on the financial implications of the newly imposed tariffs, which took effect on Wednesday.

Malaysian exporters halt US shipments amid tariff confusion

US President Donald Trump said he would pause higher reciprocal tariffs on dozens of non-retaliating countries for 90 days, while raising duties on China to 125%.&nbsp;

Trump pauses higher duties on most nations, hikes China tariffs to 125%

KUALA LUMPUR (April 9): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made news on Wednesday;

AMMB Holdings Bhd's (KL:AMBANK) group chief financial officer Shafiq Abdul Jabbar is stepping down “to pursue other professional opportunities”. Industry sources say Shafiq ...

AMMB, KIP REIT, Khee San, Sapura Energy, Jati Tinggi, AWC, Hibiscus Petroleum, HHRG

Some Malaysian exporters of manufactured goods destined for the United States have temporarily halted shipments as they await clearer information on the financial implications of the newly imposed tariffs, which took effect on Wednesday.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he envisions reaching trade agreements with US allies that would then lay the ground for a collective approach toward Beijing to address what he described as China’s unbalanced trade structure.

Bessent sees a deal with allies, then group approach on China

When the 24% reciprocal tariff US President Trump imposed on Malaysia on April 9 takes effect, Malaysia would face the biggest economic threat since we transitioned from an agricultural and commodity exporting country to a manufacturing exporting country in the 1980s. The reciprocal tariff would bulldoze all the economic prosperity that Malaysia has generated since then, rendering us a hollowed industrial ecosystem with a high unemployment rate.

How Malaysia’s manufacturing industries can survive Trump’s reciprocal tariff

As Donald Trump’s sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs took effect just after midnight on Wednesday, the president was watching the bond market.

Long-term yields were soaring. The 10-year Treasury saw the biggest three-day jump since 2001. The president was confronting a worst-case scenario: voters who had returned him to the White House because of inflation now faced both increased prices and higher borrowing costs.

Bond chaos, deal mania and Jamie Dimon: Inside Trump’s tariff reversal

CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd rejected accusations it failed to pay about 1.2 billion balboas (US$1.2 billion or RM5.4 billion) to the Panamanian state over the concession contract to run the two key ports in the Central American country.

CK Hutchison rejects accusations over Panama Ports payments

US stocks posted the best day since the financial crisis after President Donald Trump paused some reciprocal tariffs in a move that jolted the bond market and lifted Asian equity futures.

Wall Street's main indexes inched higher on Wednesday as investors lapped up cheaper technology stocks in a choppy session that remained centered on tariff moves as China retaliated with more levies on US goods.

Tech shares lift Wall Street amid escalating US-China tariff war

Oil prices surged from a four-year low on Wednesday and gold rallied in a broad-based commodities and equity market rebound after US&nbsp;President Donald Trump said he would temporarily lower recently enacted tariffs on dozens of countries while further increasing duties on China.

Malaysian stocks staged a broad relief rally on Thursday after the US announced a pause to its reciprocal tariffs on some of its trading partners.

President Donald Trump urged Americans to remain calm and continue investing on Wednesday as his sweeping reciprocal tariffs hit, in an indication the White House was closely monitoring market reaction to the levies.

Trump says ‘be cool’ after tariffs, adds ‘great time to buy’ 

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s trip to see President Xi Jinping will offer a chance to swap notes on a common problem: how to respond to an increasingly unreliable US.

Sanchez, who is due in Beijing on Friday, will be the first European leader to visit China since President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on most of the world. With agreements due to be signed in areas including pharmaceuticals, agricultural and medical products, Sanchez can argue that Spain is the go-to partner for China in Europe at a time of growing economic uncertainty.

Spain pushing for EU pivot to China to counter Trump tariffs

China's commerce ministry slapped restrictions on more than a dozen US defence firms on Wednesday after President Donald Trump made good on his threat to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports.

China slaps restrictions on 18 US firms over Trump tariffs

The wild ride on US stock markets took a dizzying turn Wednesday afternoon when President Donald Trump announced a pause on some of his harshest tariffs, propelling the S&amp;P 500 Index to its biggest one-day gain since 2008.

Record US trading day fuels S&P 500’s best rally since 2008

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the administration is considering plans to offer assistance to farmers amid worries that the US-China trade war will have a disastrous effect on American agricultural producers.

US weighs farmer bailout as China retaliation threatens exports

Asean, which has faced a series of global uncertainties, has emerged from a quiet corner of the global economy to become central to it, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

From currency shocks to global contagion, Asean has seen it all, the prime minister said in his keynote address at the gala dinner in conjunction with Malaysia’s Asean chairmanship of the Finance Track here on Wednesday.

Asean emerges as a central player in global economy after overcoming series of adversities — Anwar

Spain will pursue closer trade ties with China in the interests of its citizens and of the EU, its agriculture minister Luis Planas said on Wednesday, rejecting a US warning that moving closer to the Asian country would be "cutting your own throat".

Spain defends closer trade ties with China after US warns against 'cutting own throat'

China on Wednesday issued a risk alert for Chinese tourists travelling to the US, according to a statement from the culture and tourism ministry.

China issues risk alert for tourists travelling to US

Since the US-China trade war in President Donald Trump's first term, Beijing has taken steps to reduce its reliance on American farm goods in a wider effort to bolster its food security.

As a result, China can now wield the billions it still spends each year on US agricultural products as a weapon in the escalating trade war with less risk to its own food security.

Lee Weng Khuen & John Lai