Asia markets moderate losses after reported Saudi oil release slightly ease prices
09 March 2026
Today in Brief
Asia-Pacific markets moderated losses following a rout Monday, after Saudi Arabia reportedly offered crude on the market, easing oil prices. Both benchmarks were nearly at $120 per barrel earlier.
Asia Markets
Story 01
Asia markets moderate losses after reported Saudi oil release slightly ease prices
Asia-Pacific markets moderated losses following a rout Monday, after Saudi Arabia reportedly offered crude on the market, easing oil prices. The kingdom had offered roughly 4.6 million barrels via a pipeline to Yanbu on the Red Sea, Bloomberg reported. Oil prices dipped after the news, with Brent futures trading up 16.13% at $107.71 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures at 13.74% higher at 103.47. Both benchmarks were nearly at $120 per barrel earlier. South Korea’s Kospi triggered its second circuit breaker in four sessions on Monday, leading a broader regional sell-off as oil prices neared $120 per barrel for the first time since 2022.
U.S. Markets
Story 02
Dow falls 450 points, posts worst week in nearly a year, jobs data disappoints
Stocks fell Friday, adding to their weekly declines, as oil prices spiked and traders reacted to an unexpected drop in new U.S. jobs data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 453.19 points, or 0.95%, to end at 47,501.55. It was down close to 950 points, or almost 2%, at its low of the day. The S&P 500 fell 1.33% and settled at 6,740.02. Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.59% and closed at 22,387.68. The two had shed 1.7% and 1.9%, respectively, at their nadirs. West Texas Intermediate crude oil broke above $90 per barrel and ended the week with a 35% gain — its biggest since oil futures trading began in 1983 — as investors weighed the impact of the U.S.-Iran war on global energy supply.
Commodities
Story 03
Gold prices fell to around $5,100 per ounce on Monday
Gold prices fell to around $5,100 per ounce on Monday as a firmer US dollar and diminishing expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts offset safe-haven demand from the escalating Middle East conflict. Oil prices surged above $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022 as the war with Iran entered its second week, fuelling concerns about renewed global inflation. Disruptions intensified after oil tankers were effectively blocked from the Strait of Hormuz, prompting several Middle Eastern producers, including Kuwait, Iraq, and the UAE, to curb crude output. The conflict has already halted roughly a fifth of global crude and natural gas supply as Iran targets ships in the vital shipping route. The surge in energy prices could complicate the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook, reinforcing expectations that rate cuts may be delayed and increasing the risk of stagflation, particularly after last week’s weak jobs report.
Energy
Story 04
WTI crude oil futures soared as much as 31% on Monday, before easing to trade 13% higher
WTI crude oil futures soared as much as 31% on Monday, before easing to trade 13% higher above $100 per barrel, amid production cuts from major Middle Eastern producers following disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. The earlier spike marks the largest one-day gain since April 2020 and the highest price level since June 2022, building on last week’s 35.6% rally. Kuwait has begun reducing output at its oil fields and refineries, while the UAE said it is managing offshore production to address storage needs, while onshore operations continue normally. In Iraq, output from its three main southern oilfields has dropped by 70% to 1.3 million bpd from 4.3 million bpd prior to the conflict, according to industry sources.
Middle East
Story 05
Saudi Arabia told Iran not to attack it, warns of possible retaliation, sources say
Saudi Arabia has told Tehran that while it Favors a diplomatic settlement to Iran’s conflict with the United States, continued attacks on the kingdom and its energy sector could push Riyadh to respond in kind, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The message was conveyed before a speech on Saturday in which Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized to neighbouring Gulf states for Tehran’s actions — an apparent attempt to defuse regional anger over Iranian strikes that hit civilian targets. Two days earlier, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and set out Riyadh’s position with clarity, the sources said.
Geopolitics
Story 06
Iran names Ayatollah Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, as new supreme leader: Media reports
Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei its new Supreme Leader on Sunday, the Associated Press and Reuters reported, citing Iranian state media. Khamenei is the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening salvos of the war. He was considered a top contender for the role. The elder Khamenei had ruled Iran since 1989 until his death. Khamenei’s appointment will hand him control of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and other hardline groups. The Revolutionary Guard issued a statement expressing support, the Associated Press reported, and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah shared a portrait of the younger Khamenei on Telegram, captioned: “Leader of the blessed Islamic revolution.”
Diplomacy
Story 07
China says ‘thorough preparations’ needed as Trump-Xi meeting hangs in the balance amid Iran war
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi underscored Sunday the benefits of interacting with the U.S., and signalled preparations are underway for a planned meeting between the two countries’ leaders amid differences over the war in Iran and trade tariffs. “The agenda of high-level exchanges is already on the table,” Wang told reporters in Mandarin Chinese, according to an official translation. “What the two sides need to do now is make thorough preparations accordingly, create a suitable environment, manage the risks that do exist and remove unnecessary disruptions.” “Turning our backs on each other would only lead to mutual misperception and miscalculation,” he said. “Sliding into conflict or confrontation would only drag the whole world down.” After an in-person meeting in South Korea in the fall, Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump indicated plans to visit each other’s countries.
Economy
Story 08
China consumer inflation hits three-year high as producer deflation eases
China’s consumer inflation recorded the biggest jump in more than three years, as an extended holiday bolstered spending while deflation in factory-gate prices moderated. The consumer price index rose 1.3% in February from a year earlier, China’s National Bureau of Statistics data showed Monday, beating economists’ forecasts for a 0.8% increase in a Reuters poll. The increase, following a 0.2% rise in January, marked the strongest rebound since January 2023, according to LSEG data. On a monthly basis, prices gained 1% in February, above economists’ expectations for a 0.5% rise. Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, climbed 1.8% last month from a year earlier, matching the pace last seen in March 2019, according to official data compiled by Wind Information.
Pharma
Story 09
Novo Nordisk and Hims & Hers agree to partner on obesity drugs
Novo Nordisk and Hims & Hers Health plan to announce a new partnership as soon as Monday to sell obesity drugs together, Bloomberg News reported, ending a legal dispute between the two companies. The agreement marks a shift from the contentious relationship between the Danish pharmaceutical giant and the telehealth company. Novo Nordisk manufactures Wegovy and Ozempic, blockbuster medications used for weight loss and diabetes treatment. Hims & Hers had previously offered compounded versions of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo’s drugs, through its telehealth platform. The practice had drawn scrutiny from Novo Nordisk, which sought to protect its branded products. The partnership will allow the companies to collaborate on distribution of obesity medications rather than compete through legal channels. Details of the commercial arrangement were not disclosed in the Bloomberg report.
Crypto
Story 10
Binance, Zhao win dismissal of lawsuit by victims of 64 attacks
A federal judge on Friday dismissed a civil lawsuit seeking to hold Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and founder Changpeng Zhao liable for transactions that allegedly helped terrorist groups conduct 64 attacks around the world. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan said the 535 plaintiffs, including victims and relatives of victims, did not plausibly allege that the defendants "culpably associated themselves with these terrorist attacks, participated in them as something they wanted to bring about, or sought by their actions to ensure their success." The plaintiffs said the attacks occurred between 2017 and 2024, and attributed them to what they called foreign terrorist groups ("FTOs") including Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Islamic State, Kataib Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and al Qaeda.
Aviation
Story 11
Boeing close to 500-jet order ahead of Trump-Xi summit
Boeing is close to landing its first major aircraft order from China in nearly a decade, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company is negotiating an order for up to 500 737 MAX jets to be unveiled when U.S. President Donald Trump travels to Beijing for his first state visit to China since 2017. The two sides are also in talks for a widebody sale that includes about 100 Boeing 787 and 777X jets, the report said. Shares of the company were up 3.7% in afternoon trading. Reuters was not able to confirm the report. Other sources told Reuters the deal is still in negotiations, with several sticking points unresolved. Boeing declined to comment.
Finance
Story 12
US private credit defaults hit record 9.2% in 2025, Fitch says
The default rate among U.S. corporate borrowers of private credit rose to a record 9.2% in 2025, according to a report Friday by credit rating agency Fitch Ratings. In its monitor of 302 companies with outstanding private credit debt, Fitch recorded 38 defaults among 28 different borrowers. The 9.2% default rate in 2025 follows a previous record 8.1% rate of defaults in 2024. Smaller issuers with $25 million or less in earnings made up the majority of last year’s defaults, which were diversified among sectors, according to the report. The businesses tracked by Fitch were composed primarily of middle-market companies with $100 million or less of earnings and about $500 million or less in outstanding debt. Defaults recorded by Fitch included both bankruptcy filings and distressed debt exchanges, in which the borrowers worked with their lenders to restructure the debt.
