Global miner Rio Tinto said on Wednesday its third-quarter iron ore shipments rose 5%, helped by higher demand from Chinese steelmakers. SEE MORE Oil prices rose on Wednesday, tracking gains in equities, as investors pinned hopes on a potential Brexit deal between Britain and the European Union and on signals from OPEC and its allies that further supply curbs could be possible. SEE MORE Asia’s benzene market remained under downward pressure this week, with sentiment still dampened by elevated trade tensions in the absence of a concrete outcome from the recently concluded US-China trade talks. SEE MORE Concerns about the US-China trade talks have lifted for now, and investors are turning their attention to third quarter earnings reports and how listed companies will perform in the last three months of the year. SEE MORE Economies of East Asia and the Pacific as a region together outperformed other regions of the world with the highest media score – topped off by Singapore which elevated as the world’s most competitive economy, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s 2019 Report. SEE MORE