An oil tanker unloads crude oil at a terminal at the port in Qingdao, in China’s eastern Shandong province on March 11, 2026. – | Afp | Getty Images Chinese industrial firms saw their profits surge in the first two months of this year as officials pressed ahead with efforts to contain the fallout from…
Panicked drivers lined up in long queues outside gas stations across China Monday after receiving an alert from Chinese oil giant Sinopec about a pending price hike. The state refiner issued a notice Sunday that the price of gas will be set higher by a “meaningful” amount starting March 24. “As soon as I got…
An LPG gas tanker at anchor as traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Shinas, Oman, March 11, 2026. Benoit Tessier | Reuters Hello, this is Leonie Kidd writing to you from London. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open. I don’t know about you, but…
A giant inflatable Labubu toy floats on the water at Victoria Harbour on October 25, 2025 in Hong Kong, China. Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images 28-year-old Rebecca Zhou, born in China’s Sichuan province, owns an assortment of Moomin merchandise — bags, mugs, and figurines featuring the white hippo-looking cartoon character from Finland…
CHENGDU, CHINA – MARCH 18: Apple CEO Tim Cook attends a special event marking Apple’s 50th anniversary at the Apple Taikoo Li Chengdu store on March 18, 2026 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province of China. VCG | Getty Images Tim Cook touched down in Chengdu, China, this week for an Apple Store event tied to the…
My top 10 things to watch Friday, March 20 1. Stock futures are down this morning as oil works its way back up after a brief move lower on Thursday. The major averages are pacing for their fourth losing week in a row, with the S & P 500 and Dow down 0.4% and 1.2%,…
China is making a big push for widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, and the nation’s tech powerhouses are holding public events to help everyday people get OpenClaw, the viral personal digital assistant. “It seems everyone around me – my colleagues and friends — has it,” new user Gong Sheng said as he waited to get…
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. The Bank of Japan kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged. Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets dipped on Thursday, tracking losses on Wall Street that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average touch a new closing low for the year. The Federal Reserve held…
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang gestures during the NVIDIA GTC global AI conference in San Jose, California, U.S. March 17, 2026. Carlos Barria | Reuters Chinese artificial intelligence stocks surged Wednesday following upbeat comments from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on the promise of AI agents and OpenClaw. Huang on Tuesday said that OpenClaw was “definitely the…
Commercial vessels are pictured offshore in Dubai on March 11, 2026. – | Afp | Getty Images Iran’s de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has stoked fears of the gravest disruption to global oil supply in history, as the Middle East conflict stretches into its third week. The blockade has squeezed shipping traffic…
