Oil prices fell slightly on Friday and were set to close the week lower as concerns over rising U.S. interest rates and a strong dollar largely offset optimism over a potential recovery in Chinese demand. 

The dollar surged on Friday to hit a six-week high against a basket of currencies as a bout of resilient economic data out of the United States raised market expectations that more interest rate hikes were in the offing.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Malaysia's long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating at "BBB+" with a stable outlook.

UMW Group’s vehicle sales in January 2023 rose 13% year-on-year to 28,235 units from 24,972 units, on the back of higher bookings at both UMW Toyota Motor (UMWT) and UMW’s associate company Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua).

Growth in Japan's merchandise exports slowed sharply in January amid weakening Chinese demand for cars and chipmaking machinery, stoking concern about a global slowdown and creating the country's largest trade deficit on record.

Emerging market equities and debt attracted the largest monthly net inflow in January in two years as better conditions allowed for blockbuster debt issuance while upbeat sentiment funneled cash toward Chinese stocks, the Institute of International Finance said on Wednesday.