24/03/2026

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | MAR 24, 2026

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Hope gives way to selling as investors brace for long war

Australia, Singapore agree to strengthen energy supply chains SYDNEY: Australia and Singapore agreed yesterday to cooperate in ensuring smooth supply chains of oil, LNG and diesel as the two import-reliant nations weather a global energy squeeze caused by the Mideast war. Global oil prices have soared as the war between the United States, Israel and Iran has centred around the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of the world’s oil and gas shipments normally transit. In a joint statement, Australia and key shipping hub Singapore said yesterday they shared “deep concern over the situation in the Middle East and its consequences for our region, such as the impact on energy supply chains and prices”. “We are committed to working together to strengthen energy supply chain resilience,“ they said. And they agreed to “strengthen energy security, to support the flow of essential goods including petroleum oils, such as diesel, and liquefied natural gas between our two countries”. In Australia, petrol prices have soared and officials have issued calls for residents to only buy what they need in the face of panic buying and alleged price-gouging. Energy Minister Chris Bowen insisted yesterday the country was a “long way” from rationing, while conceding that some petrol stations had run out of fuel. – AFP Cambodian supplier to suspend LPG sales PHNOM PENH: A major energy supplier in Cambodia has said it will halt sales of liquefied petroleum gas from the start of next month due to supply disruptions resulting from the Middle East war. Sokimex, a supplier of premium cooking and burning fuel in the Southeast Asia nation, announced late on Sunday that it would “temporarily suspend the supply of LPG effective from April 1”. Due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the company said it had been “unable to import LPG since the beginning of March 2026 and therefore cannot continue supplying LPG to customers according to market demand”. Sokimex Investment Group’s energy division supplies gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas to the public and private sectors, and includes more than 500 service stations across the country, according to its website. Cambodian Energy Minister Keo Rottanak said in a video released yesterday that Sokimex contributed only about 3% of LPG to the Cambodian market, and told the public “not to worry” as six other companies were still supplying LPG in the country. He also urged people to turn to electric rice cookers and stovetops to conserve LPG, adding that the government was working to find new sources of supply. – AFP

o Cash is the only place to hide, says strategist

SINGAPORE: Investors losing hope for a quick resolution of the Middle East war are scrambling to cushion portfolios against prolonged strife and a bigger oil shock, as they seek shelter in cash and energy shares while cutting bonds and bets on tech and mining. The moves reflect a market buying insurance against long-term, or even permanent, changes to energy markets and trade, as it shifts away from earlier efforts to look through temporary disruption. The S&P 500 fell 1.5% on Friday, with big tech companies leading losses and futures fell a further 0.6% in Asia. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei fell 3.5% and nerves finally hit China, where blue chips headed for their heaviest beating since US tariffs whacked markets last year. Selling has been even more furious in bonds and comes as traders count down to US President Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but are bracing for lasting economic damage, even if there is an unlikely breakthrough. “Markets have been, until recently, extremely resilient,” said Aaron Costello, head of Asia at an investment advisory Cambridge Associates, pointing to investors conditioned by years of Trump backflips to expect a short term reversal. “Then on Friday, markets kind of broke to new lows ... because I think the reality is it is going to escalate before it de-escalates,” he said at a Milken Institute event in Hong Kong. “Right now, companies and countries have reserves and stockpiles, but those will eventually be depleted unless this wraps up. So markets are starting to price that and they need to price that.” MSCI’s gauge of world stocks made a four-month low yesterday after breaking support at the 200-day moving average on Friday. “There was a huge lack of conviction around valuation on this market rally. And so what we’re seeing now is a fairly quick exit to the door,” said Karen Jorritsma, head of Australian equities at RBC Capital Markets in Sydney. “Cash balances are going up. We’re seeing de-grossing across markets, here, in Asia, the United States, across the board. And I think that makes a lot of sense.” The damage to energy infrastructure and the prospect of more destruction are starting to convince investors that neither a Trump policy pivot nor interest rate cuts will reverse the economic effects of the war. Nearly a fifth of Qatar’s LNG export capacity was knocked out by Iranian attacks and long-term contracts will be disrupted for

A man fills his car with fuel as a petrol station sign advertises diesel for over three Australian dollars a litre, a new high due to the Middle East war, in the Melbourne suburb of Newport. – AFPPIC

been falling as investors clear profits from its recent rally. Gold mining shares were hammered in Australia yesterday as the price of carting diesel to remote mine sites started to rocket. To be sure, longer-term investors with return horizons counted in years are not panicking or upending portfolios. “We haven’t seen massive flows out of equities,” Lori Heinel, global chief investment officer at State Street Investment Management, said at a media briefing in Hong Kong on Friday. “But the longer the conflict goes on, the more vulnerability Asia will have, because of the dependence on energy and the potential for elevated levels of energy prices.” Energy – oil, gas and renewables – has been a popular buy, as has the dollar, on a view that US shares may be best placed to ride out the shock. Lombard Odier recently upgraded its US equities view to neutral on the basis that the country is an energy exporter, although even that market has started to wobble. “Whether it’s stocks, bonds, or gold, they’re all falling,” said Jason Chan, strategist at Bank of East Asia. “No particular asset is immune ... so in the short term, cash seems to be the only place to hide.” – Reuters

years, the head of QatarEnergy told Reuters last week, while hardly any oil is traversing the Strait of Hormuz. Airline ticket prices have jumped. Petrol prices are up and businesses are responding. United Airlines, for example, said it was preparing for oil at US$100 until the end of 2027 and planned capacity cuts of five percentage points. In Asia, where dependence on Middle East oil makes economies especially vulnerable, money is switching sectors in stock markets and in some cases, leaving outright. Net selling of US$44.36 billion worth of stocks in the region this month is on pace for the biggest monthly outflow since at least 2008. “This (escalation) is causing investors to realise that we’re really not at the end of this whole thing. In fact it looks like it’s going to get worse,” said Francis Tan, chief Asia strategist at Indosuez Wealth Management in Singapore. “(Clients) are staying more defensive, taking some profits off the table, locking some of the profits that they have been seeing for the last one year-plus.” There are few shelters. Inflation risks are driving down bond prices while gold, a traditional safe haven, has

Indonesia eyes 80 trillion rupiah in savings to cushion economy JAKARTA: Indonesia is eyeing up to 80 trillion rupiah (RM18.5 billion) in savings to cushion its economy from the fallout of the war in the Middle East, according to the government. response in the Gulf have sent global oil prices soaring. production of renewables, mainly solar power. meals programme will remain untouched. It has also so far staunchly defended its fuel subsidy, which covers about 30% to 40% of the cost for consumers and represents around 15% of the budget.

Southeast Asia’s biggest economy has not yet seen long fuel queues as global oil prices have soared. “There are still many other cost saving measures that we can implement,“ Prabowo said in an interview with journalists and experts aired by local media over the weekend. The government will finalise its work-from-home policy and announce it to the public “as soon as possible”, Prasetyo said. – AFP

During the interview, presidential spokesman Prasetyo Hadi suggested the government is seeking savings of 80 trillion rupiah – a number confirmed to AFP by the presidency yesterday. Prasetyo did not detail where the money would come from. The government has repeatedly insisted Prabowo’s signature free

In an interview recorded last week, President Prabowo Subianto was asked about a possible shift in budget priorities for the country that heavily subsidises fuel for its population of just over 284 million. The former general said the government was “making every effort” to cut costs by curbing energy consumption and boosting

Southeast Asia’s largest economy is also mulling fuel-saving measures including one day of remote working per week for government and certain public sector workers as US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory

These form part of Prabowo’s goal to raise the economic growth rate from 5.1%t last year to 8% by 2029, fuelled by public spending. Unlike many of its neighbours,