(April 23): Bitcoin continued to climb after US President Donald Trump said he had no intention of firing Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, easing concerns over the central bank’s autonomy.

Bitcoin climbs higher as US seeks to ease trade, Fed tensions

Bitcoin advanced to the highest level since early March, fuelling optimism that the biggest digital token is finally breaking free of a longstanding tendency to move in tandem with US tech stocks.

Bitcoin rallies 20% during market turmoil to diverge from tech

(April 21): Bitcoin rallied to its highest level since US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements, as the dollar slumped amid renewed fears over the US president’s efforts to remove Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell.

Bitcoin rebounds as Trump’s push against Powell weakens dollar

For about a week, bitcoin mining firms in Southeast Asia faced an all-consuming deadline: midnight, April 9.

US tariffs sparked rush to get bitcoin mining gear out of Asia

US policy on stablecoins offers European citizens an attractive payment method for cross-border transactions which should trigger more concern than trade tariffs, Italy's economy minister said on Tuesday.

US policy on stablecoins more dangerous than tariffs, Italian minister says

Crypto exchange Binance said it briefly stopped allowing users to withdraw from the platform on Tuesday, due to an issue involving an Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centre, while other crypto exchanges also reported problems.

Binance among crypto exchanges hit by Amazon Web Services outage

Kraken, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, began a phased national rollout of commission-free trading for over 11,000 US-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds on Monday, marking its latest move to expand across asset classes.

Kraken expands beyond crypto with commission-free trading launch

The largest stablecoin issuer, Tether Holdings SA, has become one of the major sources of liquidity in the digital asset market since the crash that nearly wiped out the entire crypto-lending sector several years ago.

Tether emerges as major crypto lender since collapse of sector

Binance executives met US Treasury officials last month and discussed loosening government oversight of the company, while exploring a business deal with US President Donald Trump’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, The Wall Street Journal said.

Binance seeks to curb US oversight during deal talks with Trump's crypto company, WSJ says

NEW YORK (April 10): US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed into law, a bill to overturn a revised rule from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that expanded the definition of a broker to include decentralised cryptocurrency exchanges, according to a statement from the White House.

Trump signs bill to nullify expanded IRS crypto broker rule

Second-ranked cryptocurrency ether led a fresh wave of selling in digital assets as US President Donald Trump insisted on pushing ahead with 104% tariffs on many Chinese goods, dimming hopes that a brutal trade war might be avoided.

Ether leads latest crypto sell-off as Trump ramps up trade war

The US Justice Department is disbanding its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and ordering prosecutors to narrow crypto investigations to focus on drug cartels and terrorist groups, according to a memo seen by Reuters.

US Justice Dept disbands crypto enforcement team, citing Trump order 

Cryptocurrencies wiped out almost all their gains since Donald Trump’s election win in early November as fallout from the US president’s tariff onslaught sparked heavy selling in an asset class he’s vowed to champion.

Crypto’s Trump rally evaporates; XRP leads altcoin losses 

The Trump family is set to launch a bitcoin mining-focused venture with Hut 8 Corp, the latest expansion of the US president’s ties to the cryptocurrency sector.

Trump family to launch US bitcoin mining venture with Hut 8

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday that tariff and trade wars undermine the legitimate rights and interests of all countries, hurt the multilateral trading system and impact the world economic order, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

China's President Xi says tariffs and trade wars hurt world economic order

Xiaomi Corp pushed back the debut of its first sport utility vehicle (SUV) following a fatal accident involving its marquee electric car, a blow to its ambitions to put pressure on Tesla Inc and BYD Co.

Xiaomi delays release of first SUV after fatal road accident

OpenAI would be interested in buying Google’s Chrome browser if a Federal Court orders it to be spun off, the head of ChatGPT said in a court hearing on Tuesday.

OpenAI would buy Google’s Chrome browser, ChatGPT chief says

The Swiss franc's rapid appreciation on US policy uncertainty could force the Swiss National Bank to intervene soon, as Swiss industry hopes the safe haven currency's surge can be tamed before it deals another blow to a tariff-threatened sector.

The franc has surged roughly 9% against the dollar so far this month, and is set for the biggest monthly gain since the 2008 financial crisis. Last week it hit its strongest level since January 2015 when the SNB scrapped its minimum exchange rate.

Swiss franc's surge on tariff turmoil pressures central bank to act

ISTANBUL (April 23): Major Malaysian companies are encouraged to continue exploring investment opportunities abroad to strengthen business collaboration and more crucially, to extend the sharing of technology and expertise, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

Fadillah encourages local firms to continue exploring investment opportunities abroad, extend sharing of tech

Boeing Co agreed to sell its flight navigation unit and other digital assets to Thoma Bravo for US$10.6 billion (RM46.7 billion) in cash, the first major portfolio transaction under chief executive officer Kelly Ortberg as he seeks to shore up the planemaker’s finances.

Boeing sells Jeppesen unit to Thoma Bravo for US$10.6b in bid to prioritise core ops making jetliners, military aircraft

EG Industries Bhd (KL:EG) is confident of breaching the RM2 billion revenue mark for the first time in the financial year ending June 30, 2025 (FY2025), despite the market turmoil caused by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcements earlier last week.

According to the ele...

EG Industries poised to surpass RM2 bil revenue despite global turmoil

SINGAPORE (April 23): Singapore's key consumer price gauge rose 0.5% in March from a year earlier, official data showed on Wednesday, the lowest annual rate since 0.6% in June 2021.

The core inflation rate, which excludes private road transport and accommodation costs, was lower than a ...

Singapore's March core inflation rises 0.5% y-o-y, lowest since June 2021

Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker Roger Ng Chong Hwa can testify as a defence witness in the ongoing 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)-Tanore criminal trial of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Ex-Goldman banker Roger Ng can testify as Najib's defence witness, court rules

Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz and his team have arrived in the US to urge US officials to review tariffs on Malaysian imports.

Zafrul lands in US, to meet with US Trade Rep Jamieson Greer over tariffs

US President Donald Trump said he plans to be “very nice” to China in any trade talks, and that tariffs will drop if the two countries can reach a deal, a sign he may be backing down from his tough stance on Beijing amid market volatility.

Trump floats cutting China tariffs ‘substantially’ in trade deal

SYDNEY (April 23): Stock markets were enjoying a much-needed relief rally in Asia on Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump&nbsp;said he had no plans to fire the head of the Federal Reserve, and hinted at lower tariffs for&nbsp;China.

Stocks, dollar rebound in Asia as Trump steps back

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a closed-door investor summit on Tuesday that the tariff stand-off with China cannot be sustained by both sides, and that the world’s two largest economies will have to find ways to de-escalate.

US Treasury Secretary Bessent expects tariff stand-off with China to de-escalate

(April 23): It’s 8am and already sweltering at the&nbsp;Pomina Flat Steel JSC&nbsp;plant outside Ho Chi Minh City, as&nbsp;the night shift’s last pour of molten metal is shaped, cooled and cut into rods. Down the road, at a Vietnam Steel Corp facility, a&nbsp;long strip is uncoiled into an acid bath and fed through a powerful press, making it thinner but tougher.

In China’s backyard, steel buyer Vietnam is trying to stem a tide of cheap metal

KUALA LUMPUR (April 23): Johor Investment, Trade, Consumer Affairs and Human Resources Committee chairman Lee Ting Han announced that Forest City’s Special Financial Zone (SFZ) has welcomed its first family offices, CMY Capital Family Office and Yow Kee Family Office, and attracted interest from 32 companies to set up operations in Johor Bahru.

Forest City SFZ welcomes first family offices, sees interest from 32 companies

(April 23):&nbsp;Chinese corporate and government borrowers have pushed issuance of dollar and euro bonds to a record proportion of all such note sales in emerging markets (EM) this month, in one sign of resilience to the&nbsp;trade war.

Chinese foreign bond sales mark record share of total in emerging markets

Several areas in Selangor were affected by flash floods following heavy rainfall since early Wednesday morning.

Selangor Fire and Rescue Department assistant director of operations&nbsp;Ahmad Mukhlis Mukhtar&nbsp;said the affected areas were&nbsp;Sungai Buloh, Petaling Jaya&nbsp;and Subang Jaya.

Flash floods hit several areas in Selangor, no evacuations reported

Malaysia’s headline inflation slowed to 1.4% in March, mainly due to slower price increases for restaurants, personal goods, and water.

Inflation down to 1.4% in March as price increases for restaurants, personal goods, and services slow

Ferrotec Holdings Corporation, a Japanese advanced materials and component company, will be investing RM1 billion for the construction of its second manufacturing facility in Kulim, Kedah.

Japan's Ferrotec to invest RM1 bil in second plant in Kedah

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its real gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for Malaysia to 4.1% this year, from its January estimate of 4.7%, in line with a broader reduction in regional projections.

IMF cuts real GDP growth forecast for Malaysia to 4.1% in 2025

KUALA LUMPUR (April 23): Malaysia will likely miss some economic and policy targets held back by fiscal constraints, bureaucratic drag, and global macro headwinds, said BIMB Securities.

Malaysia will miss some targets amid fiscal, bureaucratic drag, macro headwinds — BIMB

The imposition of US duties on solar panels from Southeast Asia&nbsp;will have far-reaching implications for&nbsp;the manufacturing base across the region, according to the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM).

US solar duties threaten Malaysia's role in global clean energy supply chain, says FMM

KUALA LUMPUR (April 23): Bumi Armada Bhd (KL:ARMADA) is expected to report strong earnings in first quarter of 2025 (1QFY2025), but foresees a drop in the following quarters as its floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) Kraken vessel sees a steep cut in its daily charter rates.

Bumi Armada to post strong 1Q earnings, later quarters impacted by FPSO Kraken rate cut — Maybank IB

Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker Roger Ng Chong Hwa can testify as a defence witness in the ongoing 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)-Tanore criminal trial of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp&nbsp;on Tuesday signed an agreement to establish a wholly owned electric vehicle (EV) plant in Shanghai, in a strategic move to bolster its presence in China, the world's largest automotive market, Xinhua reported.

Toyota signs deal for US$2b EV project in Shanghai

(April 23):&nbsp;The dollar advanced against its major peers after US President Donald Trump said he had no intention of firing Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell.

Relief rebound for dollar as Trump cools rhetoric on Powell

Major Russian banks have set up a netting payments system dubbed "The China Track" for transactions with China, aiming to reduce their visibility to Western regulators and mitigate the risk of secondary sanctions, banking sources told Reuters.

'China Track' bank netting system shields Russia-China trade from Western eyes

(April 23):&nbsp;US equity futures surged and the dollar strengthened after President Donald Trump said he had&nbsp;no intention&nbsp;of firing Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, and as optimism grew that trade tensions may be easing.

US futures, dollar rise on Trump’s Fed backtrack

(April 23): Intel Corp is poised to announce plans this week to cut more than 20% of its staff, aiming to eliminate bureaucracy at the struggling chipmaker, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Intel to announce plans this week to cut more than 20% of staff — Bloomberg

Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz and his team have arrived in the US to urge US officials to review tariffs on Malaysian imports.

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