Shares of networking chips designer Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) jumped 12.4% in the afternoon session after the company announced a strategic partnership with Nvidia that included a $2 billion investment from the AI chip giant.
Shares of networking chips designer Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) jumped 12.4% in the afternoon session after the company announced a strategic partnership with Nvidia that included a $2 billion investment from the AI chip giant.
Liu Kuanren. Photo: VCG More than 10 months after his downfall, Liu Kuanren, a former senior official in a state-sanctioned democratic party and a former top political advisor in northwestern China’s Shaanxi province, has been indicted. On Wednesday, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate announced that the National Commission of Supervision had concluded its investigation into Liu’s suspected bribery...
Liu Kuanren. Photo: VCG More than 10 months after his downfall, Liu Kuanren, a former senior official in a state-sanctioned democratic party and a former top political advisor in northwestern China’s Shaanxi province, has been indicted. On Wednesday, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate announced that the National Commission of Supervision had concluded its investigation into Liu’s suspected bribery and embezzlement, transferring the case for prosecution. The top prosecuting agency ordered Liu’s arrest and assigned the Urumqi Municipal People’s Procuratorate in the Xinjiang region to handle the case. Public charges were recently filed at the Urumqi Intermediate People’s Court.
Indonesia’s abrupt pivot to expand its biodiesel mandate is the latest sign of how the war in Iran is reshaping energy policy, tightening global vegetable oil supplies as more gets funneled into fuel. The world’s top palm oil producer will implement its B50 program — an ambitious target to boost the level of biodiesel blended in its fuel to 50% — starting from July 1, Airlangga Hartarto , coordina...
Indonesia’s abrupt pivot to expand its biodiesel mandate is the latest sign of how the war in Iran is reshaping energy policy, tightening global vegetable oil supplies as more gets funneled into fuel. The world’s top palm oil producer will implement its B50 program — an ambitious target to boost the level of biodiesel blended in its fuel to 50% — starting from July 1, Airlangga Hartarto , coordinating minister for economic affairs announced late Tuesday. The move is part of efforts to mitigate energy supply disruptions wrought by the conflict, with Airlangga saying it could reduce fossil fuel consumption by 4 million kiloliters annually. That’s set to shrink the amount of palm oil the country has available to export and comes as other nations are ramping up biofuel mandates of their own. Benchmark palm oil futures jumped as much as 1.9% in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, reaching the highest since 2024, before paring gains. Indonesia’s move marks a sharp shift from January, when officials said the nation would keep the current mandatory blending ratio of 40% through 2026 to allow policymakers more time to build infrastructure and calculate the costs of transitioning to the higher mandate. “The renewed push is likely driven by concerns over global energy supply disruptions amid the US-Israel war with Iran, high crude oil prices pushing gasoil to trade at a premium to palm oil, and Indonesia’s efforts to strengthen energy security,” according to Ivy Ng , head of Malaysia research and agribusiness at CIMB Securities. The war has forced policymakers worldwide to shield economies from rising fuel costs and supply shortages, with some accelerating alternative energy programs. Thailand said in March it will increase its biofuel blend to 7%, from 5% currently, in a bid to cut crude oil imports. The US last week also unveiled long-awaited blending rules that will require refiners to mix a record amount of biofuels into conventional diesel and gasoline this year. While the shifts ...
atakan/iStock via Getty Images Min Joo Kang , Senior Economist, South Korea and Japan Business sentiment remains relatively firm, but outlook is cautious Sentiment among large Japanese manufacturers rose to 17 in the first quarter (vs. revised 16 in 4Q25 survey, market consensus), while non-manufacturers’ sentiment index stayed flat at 36 (vs. revised 36 in 4Q25, 33 market consensus). The outlook ...
atakan/iStock via Getty Images Min Joo Kang , Senior Economist, South Korea and Japan Business sentiment remains relatively firm, but outlook is cautious Sentiment among large Japanese manufacturers rose to 17 in the first quarter (vs. revised 16 in 4Q25 survey, market consensus), while non-manufacturers’ sentiment index stayed flat at 36 (vs. revised 36 in 4Q25, 33 market consensus). The outlook indices for manufacturing and non-manufacturing declined relative to the fourth quarter of 2025 but still beat market consensus. The outlook for general machinery and electrical machinery improved, while expectations worsened for iron and steel, motor vehicles, and basic materials. We believe the robust semiconductor cycle is driving positive sentiment in the overall manufacturing sector. Yet sentiment declined in sectors more closely tied to commodities. We believe that stronger-than-expected Tankan survey results indicate that business confidence hasn’t yet turned significantly negative. The Manufacturing PMI delivered a similar story. It was revised up to 51.6 from its flash 51.4, even though this is below February’s 53. It has remained in expansion for three consecutive months. However, output and new orders declined, making the outlook cloudy. Today's Tankan showed that the recent rise in oil prices may raise inflationary pressure in the future. The output price index indicates higher prices are expected in both the short and medium terms. The Bank of Japan will pay more attention to the price component. This is in line with the BoJ's view that underlying inflation is approaching 2%, supporting further policy normalisation. We expect the BoJ to deliver a 25 bp hike in April. Output prices are expected to rise steadily in the medium term Source: CEIC Original Post Editor's Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.