Daily Buzz: 13 March 2026

Oil Prices Climb Above US$100 as Iran Strikes Hit Tankers, Fuel Depots

Oil prices shot back up past US$100 a barrel as Iran stepped up attacks on Gulf energy supplies, setting two tankers ablaze near Iraq's southern port of Basra and hitting oil and fuel tanks near the international airport in Bahrain. The spike came despite 32 countries announcing the coordinated release of a combined 400 million barrels of oil from strategic stockpiles to calm markets. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC that the US Navy is "not ready" yet to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, though he said that's likely by the end of the month. About 20 percent of the world's oil supplies pass through the waterway, which has been effectively closed by Iranian attacks.

Iran's new leader Mojtaba Khamenei, in his first statement since replacing his slain father, said Iran would continue to block the strait to put pressure on the US to end its attacks. A spokesperson for Iran's military command warned the US: "Get ready for oil to be US$200 a barrel." Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a veiled threat to kill Iran's new supreme leader, who has not appeared in public yet, and said air strikes have killed top Iranian nuclear scientists.

China's representative to the UN, Fu Cong, told a meeting of the Security Council that Washington was the "instigator" of the Iranian nuclear crisis and said it had "resorted to blatant use ⁠of force against Iran during the negotiation process, which rendered diplomatic efforts futile." The UN said 2,000 people have been killed in a war now nearing the end of its second week, and 3.2 million have been displaced inside Iran. The death toll in Lebanon, where Israel is targeting Hezbollah positions, rose to 687, with some strikes killing civilians in areas of Beirut that aren't militant strongholds.

The war continues to take its toll on business in the Middle East. Air China and China Eastern Airlines, which had partially resumed flights to Dubai, are suspending them again, starting today. Global banks, including HSBC, Citicorp and Standard Chartered, have closed their offices in Dubai and told employees to work from home.

In global markets, benchmark Brent crude was trading up 10 percent at US$101.50 a barrel as markets closed in New York. The S&P 500 index dropped 1.5 percent. In Asian trading earlier in the day, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.7 percent, and the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.1 percent. The Stoxx600 index in Europe lost 0.6 percent.

Top Business

Li Auto Reports Profit Plunge

Beijing-based Li Auto reported a 99 percent plunge in fourth-quarter net profit to 20.2 million yuan (US$2.9 million) as the automaker navigated a period of product cycle transitions and intensified market competition in China. Revenues decreased 35 percent from a year earlier 28.8 billion yuan. Deliveries also took a significant hit, dropping 31.2 percent to 109,194 vehicles. Consequently, the profit margin contracted to 16.8 percent from 19.7 percent. For the full year, revenue declined 22 percent to 112.3 billion yuan, with annual vehicle deliveries reaching 406,343. Full-year net profit plummeted 86 percent to 1.1 billion yuan. Despite the setbacks, the company said its year-end cash position remained robust for future investments.

Li Auto was founded by entrepreneur Li Xiang in 2015 and launched its first vehicle, the Li One, in 2019. The company is best known for manufacturing and selling electric vehicles with range-extender petrol engines. It markets under the L and i series brands. Its shares have dropped about 39 percent in the last 12 months.

Swire Posts Decline in Profit on Property Values

Swire Pacific, a HK-listed diversified conglomerate that traces its business roots in Chinese mainland back to the 1860s, reported profit for 2025 fell 32 percent from a year earlier to HK$2.9 billion (US$370 million), largely on a negative change in fair value property assessment. Revenue rose 10 percent to HK$90.5 billion. The company's three core divisions are property, beverages and aviation.

In property, Swire said mainland demand for office space remained weak last year, with vacancy rates rising in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Gross rental income from office properties fell 4 percent, but income from Taikoo-branded mainland malls rose about 7 percent. At HKRI Taikoo Hui in Shanghai, retail sales rose 50 per cent. The residential market for high-end developments in major cities was "relatively resilient, particularly in Shanghai." The company said its flagship Lujiazui Taikoo Yuan Residences in Shanghai has presold sold 225 of 250 units to-date.

In beverages, mainland revenue from bottling operations was relatively flat last year, reflecting what the company called a shift from traditional distribution channels triggered by the rise of fast food-delivery services. Swire Coca-Cola holds exclusive rights to manufacture, market and distribute Coca-Cola in Shanghai and across 11 provinces. Its state-of-the-art bottling plant in Zengzhou opened last October.

In aviation, revenue, which includes Swire's 21 percent stake in Air China and 43 percent stake in Cathay Pacific, rose 12 percent. Revenue from its aircraft engineering unit, which includes a major joint venture in Xiamen, rose 10 percent.

Nvidia Plans US$26 Billion Investment in AI Models

Nvidia plans to spend US$26 billion over the next five years to develop open-source AI models, a move aimed at expanding the AI ecosystem and strengthening demand for its chips, according to a report that first appeared in Wired and was subsequently confirmed by the company. The investment marks a shift from reliance on its chip-making expertise to drive revenue, which has surged more than 1,000 percent to US$68 billion. By combining open AI models with its high-performance computing hardware, Nvidia aims to reinforce its competitive edge against proprietary systems offered by companies such as OpenAI.

Economy & Markets

Chinese Mainland Brokerages Caught Up in HK Anti-Graft Raid

Hong Kong's financial regulators and its anti-graft agency arrested eight people as part of an investigation into a HK$315 million (US$40 million) insider-dealing and corruption scheme involving two major brokerages and a hedge fund manager, Bloomberg News reported. The offices of mainland-based brokers Citic Securities and Guotai Junan International were among those raided, and Hong Kong-based hedge fund Infini Capital Management was also caught up in the sweep. The investigation centers on allegations that executives at the securities firms accepted more than HK$4 million in bribes from a hedge fund manager in exchange for allegedly leaking non-public details regarding share placements for Hong Kong-listed companies. In a statement, Shanghai-based Guotai Junan on Thursday said one employee, since suspended, had been detained in a raid and some documents were seized. Hong Kong-listed shares of Guotai Junan tumbled 4 percent, and Citic Securities fell 1.7 percent.

US Launches Unfair Trade Probes of China, Host of Other Nations

The Trump administration announced unfair trade investigations of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Southeast Asian countries and the EU, among other targets. The goal is to replace President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs, recently ruled illegal by the Supreme Court, with punitive duties under a different law that gives the president more authority. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said, "We expect that this investigation will uncover a variety of unfair trading practices related to excess capacity and production in manufacturing" that lead to persistent US trade deficits.

Shanghai AI Models Lead Global Rankings

Chinese artificial-intelligence developers have surged ahead in the latest global rankings on OpenRouter, a platform that tracks usage of large language models. In the week ended March 8, weekly calls to Chinese AI models rose 35 percent to 4.2 trillion tokens, surpassing US models. Three Chinese models topped the charts on the open-source project OpenClaw, which has recently become a major testing ground for AI developers. Among them, Step 3.5 Flash, developed by Shanghai-based StepFun, ranked first, followed by Kimi K2.5 and MiniMax M2.5. Industry analysts said Shanghai's developers have gained traction by focusing on agility and integration with AI agents, rather than competing directly with large US tech firms on general-purpose model scale. Cost is also a factor. MiniMax's M2.5 model charges about 30 US cents per million input tokens, compared with roughly US$5 for some leading US models.

UK Scraps Tariffs on Offshore Wind Components

The UK government said it will remove import tariffs on 33 items used in offshore wind manufacturing, starting April 1. The affected products include turbine blade materials, rotors and power cables, previously taxed at up to 6 percent. The move, which aims at lowering costs for renewable energy development projects, is seen as a boon for China wind-equipment makers, who dominate the global market.

Corporate

Eli Lilly to Invest US$3 Billion in China, Seeks Approval for Weight-Loss Drug

US drug giant Eli Lilly said it plans to invest US$3 billion in China over the next decade, including expanded production capacity for orforglipron, its ‌type-2 diabetes and obesity treatment. The company is seeking Chinese regulatory approval to market the drug on the mainland. Lilly said the oral non-peptide GLP-1 agonist helped overweight adults without diabetes lose 12.4 percent of their body weight over 72 weeks in late-stage trials.

Tencent Introduces Security Tool for OpenClaw Users

Tencent cybersecurity unit XianWu Lab launched the HaS Anonymizer, a private data security tool for users of OpenClaw. It is aimed at securing file formats, document and images held by sensitive industries such as finance and health care. Separately, Tencent announced an update to its WorkBuddy AI agent, allowing one-clock connection with the WeChat platform. WorkBuddy supports automated tasks such as generating reports.

Honda Forecasts First Annual Loss

Japanese carmaker Honda said it expects to report a net loss of up to 690 billion yen (US$4.3 billion) for its fiscal year ending March 31, turning from an earlier forecast of a 300 billion yen profit. That would be the company's first loss since listing. Honda said it is canceling some planned US-manufactured electric vehicle development as it reassesses strategy for new energy vehicles. It also signaled that restructuring losses could reach as high as 2.5 trillion yen.

Victoria's Secret Shuts Shanghai Flagship Shop

Lingerie retailer Victoria's Secret has closed its largest mainland flagship store, located in Shanghai's Lippo Plaza, as part of a broader restructuring of its operations in China. The store opened in 2017 with a high-profile launch featuring top models, marking an aggressive push into China. The company said the closure forms part of a relocation plan to another site in the city. Victoria's Secret currently operates 67 stores in China and has opened four new outlets since January.

Ipsen Withdraws Cancer Drug Globally After Safety Signal

French drugmaker Ipsen said it will withdraw its cancer drug tazemetostat worldwide after new safety concerns emerged. The drug, marketed as Tazverik, was the first approved EZH2 inhibitor aimed at treating some forms of lymphoma and epithelioid sarcoma. An independent monitoring committee found the drug regime may increase the risk of secondary blood cancers. In China, partner Hutchmed said it will halt sales and begin withdrawing the drug from the market.