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Commodity Exchange gold futures increased 0.9% in a week to US$1,507.10 (RM6,299.68) an ounce last Friday. Brent crude rose 4.3% to US$61.98 per barrel. In the local market, crude palm oil (BMD) rose for the third week, increasing 4.9% to RM2,398 per tonne last Friday.

Indian officials have concluded negotiations “in good faith” on over 21 of the 25 chapters, and the rest would be concluded before November 4, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join the leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc and five other countries for the summit.

The United States has downgraded its participation in back-to-back Asia-Pacific summits in Bangkok next week, a move bound to disappoint Asian partners worried by China's expanding influence.

Malaysia is trying to overcome its reliance on low-skilled foreign workers as it tries to move up the economic ladder. But that’s hurting some key industries in the country.

Oil prices were mixed on Tuesday, paring earlier steep losses as investors focused on signs that U.S.-China trade tensions could ease next month and expectations that U.S. refined product stockpiles declined last week.

An interim trade agreement between the United States and China might not be completed in time for signing in Chile next month as expected but that does not mean the accord is falling apart, a U.S. administration official said on Tuesday.

In contrast to a dimming global economic outlook, some equity strategists are hopeful of improvements in corporate earnings for the coming results season.

Using the United Nations as his stage, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad made his case against attempts to ban the import of palm oil, describing it as a classic case of blocking free trade.

India, the world’s biggest buyer of palm oil, is considering a proposal to further increase import taxes on the refined variety to boost local processing and cut dependence on overseas purchases, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Indonesia, the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, is anticipating a boost in exports of the commodity to China, taking advantage of an opportunity opened up by the escalating trade war between Beijing and Washington.

Most palm oil producers, processors and traders can’t fully trace where their supplies came from and should do more to check that what they buy meets their sustainability targets, according to an international conservation charity.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) could become the world’s largest free trade zone, comprising 16 countries that account for a third of global gross domestic product and nearly half the world’s population.