(Feb 4): China will press ahead with building a unified market to unleash domestic consumption as countries around Asia face a “pivotal juncture” in the transformation of the global economy, a top economic official said. “China is shifting towards new growth drivers in order to pursue high-quality development,” Liao said. “We are pressing ahead with building a unified market to further unleash domestic demand and consumption potential. China’s economic growth matched the government’s goal of 5% last year, with exports contributing a third of the expansion while domestic demand stayed subdued. Over a dozen Chinese provinces have reduced their economic growth targets for 2026, after Chinese President Xi Jinping indicated greater tolerance for a slower expansion and warned against wasteful investment.

(Feb 4): Australia is weighing a price floor for critical minerals, including rare earths, to help its producers counter China’s dominance and draw foreign investment to build new mines and processing projects. China has a near-monopoly over processed critical minerals and has previously used supply as leverage during trade disputes. Like the US, Australia is planning to build its own critical minerals stockpiles, albeit smaller at A$1.2 billion (US$843 million or RM3.31 billion). Shares of Sydney-listed critical minerals companies rallied on Wednesday. Lynas Rare Earths Ltd soared as much as 6.9%, Iluka Resources Ltd advanced 5.2%, Arafura Rare Earths Ltd climbed 6.3% and Sunrise Energy Metals Ltd jumped 10% during morning trade.

(Feb 4): Demand for Indonesian government bonds fell to the lowest in more than a year after an equity meltdown spurred by index provider MSCI Inc’s concerns about the country’s investability. MSCI’s warning about transparency in equity holdings last week caused stocks to suffer their steepest drop since the Asian Financial Crisis. Foreign investors sold a net US$202 million (RM794.36 million) of Indonesian bonds on Wednesday and Thursday, before officials rushed to announce market-reform plans, helping to calm the market and bring back bond inflows. Indonesian bonds had already been suffering from rising concerns about domestic fiscal discipline, a weakening rupiah and the central bank’s independence after the appointment of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s nephew as a deputy governor. Yields on 10-year debt have risen around 25 basis points so far this year, to about 6.31%.

(Feb 4): Almost half a trillion dollars has been wiped off cryptocurrencies in less than a week as a selloff led by Bitcoin accelerated. Total crypto market value has slumped by US$467.6 billion (RM1.84 trillion) since Jan 29, according to CoinGecko data. The declines follow a volatile week across global markets that also saw sharp swings in gold and silver. Bitcoin and US equities fell as rising tensions between the US and Iran prompted investors to seek safe assets. Investor Michael Burry this week warned that Bitcoin has been exposed as a purely speculative asset, failing to establish itself as a hedge similar to precious metals.

(Feb 4): Vietnam will allow foreign investors to trade through global brokerages directly instead of with local firms, a step aimed at improving market accessibility as the country prepares for an upgrade to emerging-market status from FTSE Russell. The Southeast Asian nation in October clinched a long-awaited upgrade from frontier status by FTSE Russell. The new regulation also stipulates that there are no limitations on the types of securities eligible for non-prefunding trading. Foreign securities investment fund management companies are also permitted to open two trading accounts, one for proprietary trading and another for client asset management, according to the statement. This clarification enhances transparency, improves risk segregation and supports more effective supervision of foreign asset managers operating in Vietnam.

(Feb 4): Singapore’s two largest state-owned investors are making major changes to the way they work with hedge funds, in moves that could affect billions of dollars in allocations. Temasek Holdings Pte has been contacting a wider pool of hedge funds for potential investments, people familiar said. The unconnected moves could have major implications for the money available to the world’s biggest hedge funds. Temasek, meanwhile, is likely to increase the amount of money it places externally with hedge funds. These assets include private credit and hybrid solutions, private equity funds and other alternative or uncorrelated strategies such as multi‑strategy and macro hedge funds, he added.

PARIS (Feb 3): Renault will build in France a new small electric vehicle engine using parts supplied by China's Shanghai e-drive, a spokesperson for the carmaker said on Tuesday, as it looks to reduce costs and protect margins in a sluggish European market. Renault already imports from China small electric engines made by Shanghai e-drive for its new Twingo, a car it developed in less than two years thanks to input from the Chinese supplier and engineers. Reuters reported in November that Renault had ended a project with France's Valeo to develop another more powerful EV motor without rare earths, and was considering a cheaper Chinese supplier instead. Confirmation of plans for the new small engine was first reported by French automotive media L'Argus. Renault will assemble the entry level engine at its factory in Cleon in Northern France, setting up a new production line from early 2027 to make up to 120,000 engines per year, the CGT union said in a statement published after a briefing by management of the Renault plant last week.

The Malaysian men’s team are taking Group D tie against Myanmar today seriously despite enjoying a clear advantage on paper. No pressure: Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King are among the highest-ranked players in the team. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The StarRoy King, who partners Wan Arif Wan Junaidi and is among the highest-ranked players in the team, said enjoying the matches would help settle nerves. “Pressure is always there because everyone wants to win,” said Roy King. “Let them enjoy the first two matches and see how it goes.”In line with Roy King, Arif also wants other teammates to give strong support to those competing on court.

Dialogue urged over construction, lack of parking at Jln SK10/4RESIDENTS are raising safety and environmental concerns over the construction of a three-storey building on a gazetted public parking space at the Seri Kembangan New Village in Selangor. “This poses a safety risk for pedestrians and vehicles,” said Seri Kembangan MCA service centre head Chuah Hooi Hoong who spoke on behalf of residents at a press conference. Puchong MCA chief Datuk Liew Yuen Keong, who was also present, raised concerns regarding boundary matters at the site. Last August, Seri Kembangan assemblyman Wong Siew Ki said the land was never gazetted for a carpark. Mohd Zulkurnain said that besides looking at redesigning the parking bays there, MBSJ’s Seri Kembangan multipurpose hall could be utilised for parking too.

As the yuan exchange rate tiptoed toward and then passed the strong side of 7-per-dollar last year, foreign currency flows into Chinese banks hit a record $452 billion in December. Last month, central bank Deputy Governor Zou Lan said the yuan is expected to experience two-way fluctuations while maintaining flexibility. "This might suggest a higher two-way volatility in the exchange rate," he said, which he thinks is likely to fluctuate in a range around 7-per-dollar. Ding, a Shanghai-based electrical industry exporter who only provided his surname, said his firm was already converting more dollars to yuan more quickly because of recent exchange rate moves. "We expect the level of surplus to go beyond $1 trillion again in 2026," said Kelvin Lam, senior China+ economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, who expects the exchange rate to be at 6.85 at the end of the year.

They salvaged a few belongings but were not able to carry out all their ­savings, which would have carried them through the winter, Samiullah added. “Economic programmes take time and do not have an immediate impact on people’s lives.”The World Food Programme (WFP) says Iran and Pakistan have expelled more than 2.5 million Afghans in massive repatriation programmes. At the Qasaba Clinic in the capital, mothers soothed their children during the wait for medicine and supplements. After the Taliban takeover, she said, “My husband lost his (government) job, and gradually, our economic situation collap­sed. As dusk gathers and the temperature falls, Samiullah brings in firewood, and Bibi lights a stove for warmth.

IPOH: Seeing how his late father used to require frequent blood transfusion, Nazrin Navin Kumar was inspired to organise regular blood donation drives. The 47-year-old civil engineer has been organising blood donation drives in his hometown, Teluk Intan, for about 10 years. “My late father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and required frequent blood transfusion. “My late father also used to be a frequent blood donor,” he added. She said the general awareness of organ donation was still quite low.

NILAI: A man in his 20s died after he was believed to have fallen out of a moving car along the Jalan Seremban-Nilai trunk road. Nilai OCPD Supt Johari Yahya said a woman who was driving the car lodged a report of the incident at about 11.40am on Tuesday (Feb 3). The incident happened at about 3pm on Feb 2 near Taman Kirby," he said in a statement. Supt Johari said the victim lost consciousness following the incident and was rushed to hospital but died at about 12.30pm on Tuesday (Feb 3). A post-mortem will be carried out at Rembau Hospital today (Feb 4) to establish the cause of death.

JANUARY 2026 is over and we are now into February. For many, the first month of the new year was actually an unseen battleground. The war was over tickets for concerts by a K-pop group. Yes, this is the world tour of South Korea’s most influential performers, BTS. The group comprising seven young men debuted in 2013 and 13 years later, they are still going strong.

KOTA KINABALU: Two video recordings and two photographs were presented as evidence at the Coroner’s Court during the inquest into the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir yesterday. The visual evidence was related to the relationship between the deceased and ‘Student A’, who is one of five students charged with insulting the late Zara Qai­rina. Lawyer Shahlan Jufri submitted the evidence during the cross-examination of Stu­dent A’s mother, who then identified Stu­dent A and Zara Qairina among the indivi­duals in the videos and photographs. Based on her observation of the footage played in court, the witness agreed that all the students in the videos appeared cheerful. “Student A told me she had made a Tik­Tok video with the late Zara Qairina.