Oil prices bounced higher on Thursday while Asian stocks fell, as new US strikes on Iran marked the latest test of a shaky ceasefire in the Middle East war, reports AFP.

The price jumps erased much of Wednesday's declines on the hopes of an imminent deal to end the conflict that has all but halted shipping through the crucial Strait of Hormuz for months.

An American official said the military had shot down four Iranian drones and struck a control centre in the southern city of Bandar Abbas.

The official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, described the latest actions as "measured, purely defensive, and intended to maintain the ceasefire".

Tehran's state media said Iranian forces had fired at four ships in the strait, while Kuwait said its air defences were responding to missile and drone attacks.

The developments came despite an Iranian official saying renewed hostilities with the United States were unlikely, and a threat from US President Donald Trump to "finish the job" if a peace deal was not reached.

The mixed signals underscored the fragile state of talks aimed at ending the Middle East war, which has profoundly shaken global energy markets.

Brent North Sea crude, the main international benchmark, rose more than two percent during Thursday trade to nearly $97 a barrel, while the main US contract, WTI, increased at a similar pace to over $91 a barrel.

Stock markets across Asia saw losses on Thursday, with main benchmarks in Taipei and Sydney closing more than one percent lower and Hong Kong on track to join them during the final hour of trading.

Tokyo and Seoul saw more moderate declines, while Shanghai was the sole major exchange to buck the trend, finishing the day up 0.1 percent.

The drops came after a strong day for global stocks on Wednesday, as investors, bullish on artificial intelligence, looked past the conflicting headlines on Iran.

In Asia, South Korean chipmaker SK hynix hit a $1 trillion market capitalisation, placing it alongside regional tech heavyweights Samsung Electronics and TSMC, as well as US chipmaker Micron.

The tech surge has coincided with a persistent spike in energy prices, which has threatened several major Asian economies that rely on oil shipments from the Middle East.

Economists warn that central banks may have to raise interest rates if inflation worsens as a result of the war, increasing borrowing costs and potentially weighing on economic growth.

On Wednesday, "every headline pulled the market in a different direction, leaving traders with the same conclusion they have been wrestling with for weeks", said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.

"The Strait may eventually reopen fully, but until there is something more concrete than draft frameworks and political theatre, every barrel remains hostage to headline volatility, even if sub-$100," he said.

MSH

Companies and organisations will be required to file tax returns on the income generated by employee welfare funds from the current fiscal year and pay a 27.5 percent tax on the earnings. 

The Income Tax Act 2023 incorporates the provision, lifting the tax exemption and amnesty on the compulsion to file returns for funds such as provident funds, gratuity funds and workers' profit participation funds maintained by the private sector.

The law, however, has exempted government-managed provident funds from taxation, raising questions.

TIM Nurul Kabir, executive director of the Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said there were many other avenues to collect tax.

"Employees benefit from provident funds after their retirement. So, the authority should not slap taxes on retirement benefit."

He said while levying the tax, the government has not treated provident funds of the private and public sectors equally.

"It is discriminatory," he said, adding that they would appeal to the tax authority for the withdrawal of the tax on income from provident funds.

Debabrata Roy Chowdhury, director for legal, regulatory and corporate affairs at Nestlé Bangladesh PLC, said the introduction of income tax on trust funds would lower the overall income from such schemes.

"This will have an adverse long-term impact on retired employees of private organisations."

Chowdhury urged the authority to address the issue in line with the spirit of the government's initiatives aimed at ensuring social security for private sector employees.

"The recent introduction of the universal pension scheme for private sector employees is a good example of that."

A senior official of the NBR, on condition of anonymity, said the income of government-managed provident funds was exempted in line with the Provident Fund Act 1925.

He said provident funds under the private sector had been historically exempted and there was no requirement to submit tax returns. As a result, it was unclear whether the funds were properly utilised.

"From now onwards, we will see proper disclosure."

The tax official said the contribution of payroll tax is about 3 percent of the total income tax although it should increase as the economy is growing.

Md Shahadat Hossain, a former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh, said income from investment in savings certificates, where people invest as a source of future earnings, is already taxed.

"From that perspective, the imposition of tax on provident and other employee welfare funds seems okay."

However, Towfiqul Islam Khan, senior research fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said social protection for private sector employees was low.

"Provident and other workers' welfare-related funds provide little social protection. The imposition of tax will increase inequality. But there can't be any discrimination in taxation between private and government provident funds."

Khan, citing the latest income tax law that replaced the Income Tax Ordinance 1984, said the NBR tried to find new avenues to increase tax collection and improve the nation's revenue-gross domestic product ratio, which is one of the lowest in the world.

"We can see the desperation of the tax authority to boost collection. This ultimately reveals the inability of the NBR to catch the tax evaders and illicit money makers."