Officials from Hong Kong and Singapore pitched rival plans to create gold trading hubs in Asia, underscoring fierce competition to secure new business and capitalise on strong demand for the precious metal.

Hong Kong and Singapore pitch rival gold hubs to bullion market

Singapore’s push to become a major gold hub is gaining momentum, with DBS Group Holdings Ltd adding bullion storage capacity and other banks considering similar moves.

Singapore’s gold hub plan gets lift with DBS vault expansion

Gold rose as a selloff in US bonds eased, relieving pressure on the precious metal after it fell the most in almost a month on Tuesday.

Gold edges higher as US bond yields stabilise after surge

Gold held a modest gain, after the US Federal Reserve (Fed) kept interest rates unchanged despite rising inflationary risks from the escalating war in the Middle East.

Gold holds modest gain after Federal Reserve keeps rates steady

Chinese gold imports rose to a two-year high in June, underscoring resilient demand in the world’s biggest bullion market after a plunge in international prices.

China’s gold imports jump in June after international prices slump

Gold extended gains as dip-buyers supported prices despite escalating tensions in the Middle East keeping the market under pressure.

Gold extends gains as dip-buyers shrug off US-Iran escalation

Gold declined, erasing a moderate gain from the previous session, as escalating tensions in the Middle East fuelled concerns that energy prices and inflation will stay high.

Gold declines as fresh US strikes on Iran fuel inflation fears

Silver prices touched an all-time high near US$53 (RM224) an ounce, as a historic short squeeze in London added momentum to a rally that’s been fuelled by surging demand for safe-haven assets.

Silver hits all-time high as London squeeze sparks market havoc

One of the world’s busiest land checkpoints is set to become less congested as Malaysians travelling to Singapore on factory buses will be able to clear immigration through QR code.

Malaysia to start using QR code at checkpoints with Singapore, report says

Workers in Singapore can now ask for four-day work weeks, more work-from-home days and staggered work timings starting from Dec 1, underscoring the global trend of governments and companies relaxing office arrangements in order to retain talent.

Singapore orders all employers to consider employees’ flexi-time requests

The government on Thursday has announced key individual tax reforms aimed at reducing the cost of living for the middle 40% of earners (M40).

Income tax relief level raised to RM12,000, tax rate cuts to put RM1,600 into pockets of people 

BENGALURU (Oct 9): OpenAI fired three of its researchers last week after an investigation found they violated policies on handling sensitive information, the AI major said in a post on X on Friday.

OpenAI says it has fired three researchers for violating sensitive information policy

Andy Burnham's Labour Party won an election for a parliamentary seat vacated by former leader Keir Starmer on Friday, fending off a strong challenge from the left-wing Green Party in a boost for the British prime minister.

Burnham's Labour fends off left-wing Greens in London

NEWS: PM Anwar tables Budget 2027 today

Emerging Asian equities edged higher on Friday after a sell-off in the previous session, while Singapore stocks recouped some losses after hitting three-month lows as concerns over the impact of higher bond yields on bank earnings persisted.

Emerging Asian equities edge higher; Singapore shares off three-month lows

BENGALURU (Oct 9): Maas Group's shares closed more than 6% lower on Friday after Nvidia-backed Firmus scrapped its US$5 billion IPO plan, raising concerns over the value of Maas' stake in the data centre operator and contract exposure.

Firmus investor Maas falls after AI data centre operator pulls blockbuster IPO plan

Apple has told some suppliers to cut production of components for its newly launched iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, as soaring memory chip costs and price increases have dampened consumer demand, Nikkei Asia reported on Friday.

Apple cuts iPhone 18 Pro orders due to soft demand, Nikkei Asia reports

The High Court on Friday ordered two Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers and a former officer of the agency to enter their defence on a charge of gang robbery involving a China businessman five years ago.

Two MACC officers, former officer ordered to enter defence in gang robbery case

The yuan advanced to a four-year high against a basket of its trading partners’ currencies after the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) rejected claims of undervaluation and defended its exchange-rate management.

Yuan hits four-year high versus basket as PBOC backs FX policy

Indonesia's sovereign fund said it would step into the local stock market in times of stress if it made investment sense, is cautiously buying AI exposure and may not need to remit returns immediately to the government, according to top executives.

The remarks, made in separate interviews with Reuters, offer some of the most detailed insights yet into strategy and capital allocation at an entity which, on top of public investing, spans private assets, Indonesia's state-owned enterprise portfolio and national commodity sales.

Indonesia's Danantara says it could step in during market selloffs if valuations attractive

Follow our live coverage of Budget 2027 as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tables it.

Highlights of Budget 2027

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 8): Klang member of Parliament (MP) V Ganabatirau has filed a defamation suit at the High Court here against independent preacher and activist Firdaus Wong over social media postings questioning the lawmaker's loyalty to the country.

Klang MP Ganabatirau sues Firdaus Wong over social media posts questioning his loyalty to Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 9): A former company director of a property development company has been charged with criminal breach of trust (CBT) for transferring RM100,000 of company funds to himself for a non-existent "director fee".

Former property development company director charged with CBT for transferring RM100k to himself for non-existing 'director fee'

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 9): Dagang NeXchange Bhd (KL:DNEX) could see renewed investor interest after settling its long-running legal dispute over semiconductor subsidiary SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd, removing a major uncertainty that has weighed on the stock, according to TA Securities.

DNeX's SilTerra legal settlement clears path for growth, says TA Securities

Oriental Kopi Holdings Bhd (KL:KOPI) could see its share price rise by more than 50%, according to CGS International Securities (CGSI), which expects the cafe operator's expansion and growing packaged food business to drive stronger earnings over the next few years.

CGSI sees over 50% upside for Oriental Kopi on expansion, earnings growth

Oil declined after President Donald Trump said the US would not attack Iran before November’s midterm elections, signalling a period of more than three weeks for no offensive military action against Tehran.

Oil retreats as Trump rules out attacks on Iran before US midterms

SINGAPORE (Oct 9): Asian stocks slipped on Friday and were poised for a second straight weekly drop as investors fretted about elevated energy prices, bond market ructions and the huge sums needed to fund AI investment.

Tech stocks struggle on AI spending worries, elevated yields

The worsening haze in Malaysia could disrupt manufacturing operations, affect worker attendance and drive up business costs, according to the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturing (FMM).

Haze threatens manufacturing productivity, raises business costs — FMM

Malaysia is expected to spend 82% of its forecasted record RM459.84 billion budget on operating expenditure (opex) in 2027, leaving RM83 billion, or 18%, for development expenditure (devex).

Budget 2027 expected to hit record RM459.84b, 82% for operating expenditure

A selloff in chipmakers weighed on stocks as speculation around OpenAI’s revenue revived worries that the artificial-intelligence spending spree is becoming harder to justify.

S&P 500 falls as reports on OpenAI sink chipmakers

Unisem (M) Bhd (KL:UNISEM) and its subsidiary plans to invest RM396 million to expand its semiconductor manufacturing plant in Gopeng, Perak, as the group seeks to capture growing demand for advanced chip packaging used in artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres..

Unisem plans RM396 mil second phase of Gopeng plant expansion

Singapore’s Formula 1 race will go ahead this weekend despite haze from Indonesian wildfires that has choked the city for weeks, pushing it to the top of the global rankings for air pollution. 
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F1 says Singapore race will go ahead despite Indonesia haze

The collapse of Nvidia-backed data centre operator Firmus' US$5 billion IPO is a blow to Australia's capital markets which are already facing a shrinking pool of listed entities, investors said.

Australia's benchmark share index is heavily skewed to the Big Four banks and huge mining companies, so some money managers had hoped a big tech listing would make the market more attractive by offering more choice to investors.

Firmus US$5 bil float failure deals blow to Australia's shrinking share market

BENGALURU (Oct 8): OpenAI has told investors its annualised revenue for September was almost US$50 billion, a drop from what it signaled earlier, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

OpenAI's September annualised revenue nears US$50 bil, less than previously indicated — Reuters

The tabling of Budget 2027 on Friday is expected to further strengthen the national economy, ease the people's cost-of-living burden, and safeguard national peace and stability.

Budget 2027 expected to strengthen economy, ease people’s burden, says Saifuddin

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 9): Lestari Cooling Energy Sdn Bhd, a joint venture between KJTS Group Bhd (KL) and infrastructure-focused investment firm Stonepeak Partners, aims to use its capital expenditure (capex) model to adopt new energy-efficient technologies as they become commercially viable.

...

Preparing district cooling systems for future technologies

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 9): Malaysia's fiscal deficit is projected to narrow to 3.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2027, even as the actual shortfall remains elevated at RM77.5 billion.

Malaysia's fiscal deficit to narrow to 3.3% in 2027, but shortfall remains above RM77 bil

SEOUL (Oct 9): The Chinese developer of ARTEX said they have converted the AI agent to a closed-source project after cybersecurity firms identified it as a tool used in a recent cyberattack campaign against South Korean banks.

Chinese developer makes ARTEX AI agent closed-source after Korean bank hack

PMB Technology Bhd (KL:PMBTECH), a 58.78%-owned subsidiary of Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd (KL:PMETAL), plans to invest RM650 million to build a silicon-aluminium (Si-Al) alloy plant in Sarawak as the group seeks to diversify away from a struggling silicon metal business.

Yihui Xie

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Yihui Xie

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