MANILA, Philippines — Oil giant Shell Pilipinas will stagger the big-time fuel price hikes set this week, which will hit as high as P8.80 per liter. In an advisory, the company said diesel prices would surge by P7.80 per liter on Tuesday. READ: Oman says Strait of Hormuz talks with Iran, Gulf states postponed Gas and

Thirty-three percent of Filipinos expect the Philippine economy to improve in the next 12 months, the Social Weather Survey conducted from June 20 to 29 showed.

MANILA, Philippines — The Visayas grid was placed on yellow alert Monday afternoon as outages and higher demand squeezed reserves, raising the risk of power interruptions for households. In an advisory, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said the yellow alert would be in effect from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. READ: Power

New World Development (NWD) received the green light from the Shanghai Stock Exchange to spin off and list a Reit (real estate investment trust) on the bourse, according to the distressed developer controlled by one of Hong Kong’s wealthiest families. The expected offering size for the NWD C-Reit was about 3.82 billion yuan (US$570 million), from which the group’s estimated net proceeds would be 3.24 billion yuan, Hong Kong-based NWD said in a statement on Monday. The underlying assets of the...

The Hong Kong stock exchange has proposed easing requirements for listed companies to disclose corporate transactions and seek shareholder approval, while also making it easier for issuers to spin off businesses, according to a consultation paper released on Monday. The 10-week consultation, which runs until November 30, proposes removing the profit test currently used to determine whether a transaction requires disclosure or shareholder approval. Companies would instead use market...

Hong Kong is strengthening its position as Asia’s hub for family business succession and cross-border capital allocation as wealthy families navigate economic uncertainty and a generational transfer of wealth, financial regulators and industrial executives said on Monday. Speaking at the South China Morning Post’s Redefining Hong Kong: Next Generation Wealth Conference, Undersecretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Joseph Chan Ho-lim highlighted what he described as the city’s unique...

House Committee on Energy chairperson Jose Alvarez called the attention of the Department of Energy (DOE) to the frequent power outages in the Visayas region due to tight energy supply.

US-China biotech deals are expected to thrive because Washington is reportedly leaning away from sweeping restrictions, according to analysts, giving Chinese healthcare firms a major boost following Beijing’s ambitious five-year plan for the sector. Out-licensing deals between China and the US would “ride on a high tide” in the favourable environment, said Nomura’s head of China healthcare research Jialin Zhang, in a research note on Sunday. The US Treasury Department was drafting investment...

The Philippine peso depreciated against the US dollar for the second straight trading day on Monday, as the greenback was buoyed by hawkish statements of US Federal Reserve officials.

Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center Executive Director Atty. Renato “Aboy” Paraiso has urged the public to be vigilant against scammers amid the planned maiden listing of fintech giant Mynt Inc., the parent company of GCash, on the local bourse

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is expected to finalize the terms for the bidding of the remaining four hectares of the Market! Market! property by the first quarter of 2027, a top official said Monday.

Motorists will again have to pay more for petroleum products this week, as oil firms announced another round of price increases, marking the third consecutive week of major upward adjustments.

Investors in Asia are demanding clearer evidence that artificial intelligence can translate into revenue and earnings, rather than simply seeking exposure to the technology, as the sector moves into a more mature phase, according to Chris Oberoi, head of Asia-Pacific research at Bank of America (BofA) Global Research. “The issue increasingly is: does it add to productivity, and is it being monetised,” Oberoi said. “And the answer is, ‘absolutely yes’.” Separately, President Xi Jinping and US...

Philippine officials are expected to include a clause that explicitly preserves sovereignty over projects in the Pax Silica initiative in New Clark City, stating that expatriates employed in the area will have no diplomatic immunity.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city’s de facto central bank, probably anticipated the rise in US interest rates last week. However, it is unlikely it foresaw the extent to which the Federal Reserve shifted in a hawkish direction. Even Fed watchers were surprised by the unanimous vote to increase borrowing costs and the unambiguous signal that the central bank plans to raise interest rates further in the coming months. While the HKMA, which moves in lockstep with the Fed to safeguard the...

The success of GCash operator Mynt Inc."s Initial Public Offering will be defined by sustainable post-listing value creation and regional expansion, rather than its initial ₱10 maximum price ceiling, capital market expert Jonathan Ravelas said.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited’s (CATL) dominance in the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) market is unlikely to slump over the coming year given its brand recognition and edge in technology, analysts said, though its shares have already tumbled amid the battle with profit-squeezed EV makers. Chinese carmakers have been doubling down on efforts in recent weeks to reduce their reliance on CATL – in September, Xiaomi and Li Auto highlighted their partnership with tier-two battery...

Late last month, an open tender for Hotel Cozi Harbour View in Kwun Tong was announced, with interested parties given until October 15 to submit bids. The 598-room hotel, located in Hong Kong’s eastern Kowloon Peninsula, a former industrial area, was taken over by Nanyang Commercial Bank for HK$1.87 billion (US$238.4 million) in 2025, with the bank now looking to dispose of the asset to the highest bidder. Just a week after the announcement of the tender, Nina Hospitality, one of the largest...

Four Chinese companies launched initial public offerings (IPOs) in Hong Kong on Monday, aiming to raise as much as HK$14 billion (US$1.8 billion) in total, with strong backing from cornerstone investors countering apparent weakness in the market so far this month. Automated equipment manufacturer RoboTechnik has the biggest target, planning to raise as much as HK$5.18 billion. The new entrants are braving a market that shows signs of slowing. After a blistering year so far – Hong Kong listings...

Global institutional investors and wealth managers are stockpiling cash at the fastest pace on record while quietly retreating from US and UK equities as persistent inflation and mounting geopolitical risks dominate portfolio decisions, according to a report by Marsh Investments. The institutional investment consultancy polled 430 asset owners managing a combined US$5.76 trillion and found that 37.8 per cent planned to increase cash allocations over the next 12 months, up from just 9 per cent in...

MANILA, Philippines — The government should protect middle-class purchasing power through targeted aid to prevent weaker household consumption from becoming a bigger drag on economic growth, the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) said. ADBI dean and CEO Bambang Brodjonegoro said the government should direct its efforts toward the middle class because it accounts for the

China’s revenue from stamp duty on stock sales jumped more than 80 per cent in the first eight months this year as improved sentiment bolstered trading activities. China collected 216 billion yuan (US$32.3 billion) from the tax between January and August, up 82 per cent year on year, data released by the Ministry of Finance showed. Average daily trading values on mainland China’s stock markets rose 72 per cent in the first eight months of the year as the artificial intelligence boom bolstered...

The Philippines made its first commercial shipment of Carabao mangoes to Canada as the government seeks to expand market access for the country"s agricultural products, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos moved more than P22 trillion in funds through the InstaPay and PESONet systems from January to August, underscoring the rapid adoption of digital payments after regulators had pushed for lower transaction fees. Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that the combined value of transactions coursed through the two automated

MANILA, Philippines — Manila and Ottawa have resolved major roadblocks to a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) during the fourth round of negotiations earlier this month, putting the deal on track for conclusion before year-end. That leaves both parties with only “very few remaining issues” to resolve in the coming months through smaller meetings and online

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ dollar deficit narrowed in August despite continued volatility tied to the Middle East conflict, as resilient inflows from key sources like remittances may have helped offset the outflows. The country’s balance of payments (BOP), a broad measure of money flowing into and out of the economy, registered a deficit of $596

MANILA, Philippines — Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving so quickly that many CEOs are asking the wrong question. They ask: “Which AI tools should my people use? The better question is: “If we were building this company today, with AI available from Day One, how would we design it differently?” That is the difference between an

MANILA, Philippines — This article draws on my presentation at the 1st Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Business and Investment Summit, organized by the East Asia Business Council and the Management Association of the Philippines and held in Metro Manila on Sept. 9, 2026. Somewhere in East Asia, a buyer is choosing a supplier and

Chinese gold jewellers are seeking opportunities in the Middle East and India, leveraging their advanced crafting technologies as the industry struggles amid the precious metal’s price volatility, according to an international association for the sector. At the most recent Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong fair, buyers from the two regions accounted for most visitors, said Wang Lixin, China CEO of the World Gold Council, in a recent interview with the South China Morning Post. The interest was...

MANILA, Philippines — It seems there has been a quiet change at the top of Sun Life Investment Management and Trust Corp. (SLIMTC). And by “top,” we mean literally, as Michael Gerard Enriquez, SLIMTC president and chief investment officer, has resigned. The reason for his departure was not disclosed. The change appears to have happened without much