Amy Zhang used to buy branded fashion from shopping malls, but China's economic uncertainty has driven the 35-year-old teacher, and other middle-class Chinese like her, to shop at one of Beijing's most famous wholesale markets.

Western sanctions against Russia are boosting demand for China-made cars, and this surge could continue as long as these sanctions remain in place, an executive with China's auto association said.

Asian stock markets nudged sideways on Tuesday while the dollar took a breather, its recent gains chastened by resistance from central banks in China and Japan and by traders waiting on U.S. inflation data to signal that interest rates may have peaked.

 Brent crude futures hovered just above $90 a barrel on Tuesday, as investors awaited a slew of macroeconomic data due later this week that could indicate whether Europe and the U.S. continue to hike interest rates.

The yen steadied near a one-week high on Tuesday as comments from Japan's top central banker on a possible end to its negative interest rate policy reverberated through markets, while the dollar regained some lost ground.

Malaysia’s natural rubber (NR) production decreased by 4.5 percent to 28,533 tonnes in July 2023 from 29,867 tonnes in June 2023, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).