Across much of Asia, foreign currency reserves have never been stronger.India’s foreign currency reserves are set to hit a new high of 400 billion dollars, enough to cover a year of imports, while holdings of international currencies in South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia are all at record levels.

Fuji Electric, which is headquartered in Tokyo, acquires Indonesian vending machine manufacturing and sales company in a move to expand its business in Southeast Asia. A contract has recently been signed between Fuji Electric of Japan and Kubota Corporation in purchasing all shares of Metec Semarang to take on after-sales service operations related to vending machines within Japan and overseas.

The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Nations) market – which combines Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Lao, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore and Brunei – is one of the world’s fastest growing markets that is going through rapid urbanisation over recent years.

Stocks in Asia touched a level not seen since December 2007 as a rally in Hong Kong-listed Chinese companies offset weakness in South Korea and Japan amid speculation of a Saturday missile launch by Pyongyang.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.4 percent to 161.81 as of 4:33 p.m. in Hong Kong, led by China Gas Holdings, which extended gains from a record yesterday after bullish growth forecasts.

If he were alive today, the rubber and pineapple king of 1930s Singapore would surely be asking whether the custodians of his empire just sold another chunk of it too cheaply.That's the unavoidable conclusion from the drama surrounding the takeover of United Engineers, where a general offer is flirting with failure after the emergence of a rival buyer willing to pay more than the price accepted by OCBC (Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp).United Engineers, a property and construction engineeri

Malaysia Airlines agreed to buy Boeing’s 787-9 Dreamliners and 737 Max jets as the Southeast Asian nation’s flag carrier looks to boost services on its busiest routes.The airline signed a memorandum of understanding for eight of the carbon-composite Dreamliners, and eight 737 Max 8s, Boeing said in an e-mailed statement late Tuesday.

Billionaire Lucio Tan said he plans to return his group’s Philippine Airlines to profit before selling a stake, two weeks after the carrier’s president said talks with a strategic investor were likely to produce a deal by the end of this year.PAL Holdings, the carrier’s parent, booked a net loss of 501 million pesos (9.8 million dollars) in the second quarter after reporting a 1.13 billion peso deficit in the previous quarter as higher fuel costs and aircraft lease charges boosted expenses.

Its sovereign bonds don’t yield much more than US Treasuries, they cost less to insure than Spanish notes and its currency is more stable than China’s managed yuan.In a sign of how the flood of money into emerging markets is upending conventional wisdom, military-run Thailand with a credit rating just three levels above junk at Moody’s Investors Service has become a favoured low-yielding destination for bond investors.A current-account surplus that’s forecast to be around 10 percent of gross

Philippine financial markets were closed on Tuesday along with government offices and schools as heavy overnight rains flooded parts of the capital Manila and nearby provinces.Currency, stocks and bonds trading were suspended after the office of President Rodrigo Duterte halted work in government offices, BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) Governor Nestor Espenilla said.

Aussies hoping to buy the new iPhone are likely to be forking out more than most countries in Asia.Australia has slumped to 25th out of 57 countries for iPhone affordability in US dollar terms, from 17th place 12 months ago and fifth cheapest two years earlier, according to an index compiled by Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s securities unit.