The UK's shop price inflation edged up to 1.2% year over year in May from 1% in April, the British Retail Consortium said Tuesday.
The latest reading exceeded the consensus estimate of 1.1%.
As food inflation continued to soften, BRC attributed the increase in shop price inflation to rising shipping and raw material costs amid the Middle East conflict.
South Korea's crude oil imports from the Middle East fell 37.3% to 4.49 million tons in April from a year earlier, amid the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran, which has raised geopolitical tensions in the region, Yonhap News reported Sunday, citing data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).Imports from the Middle East accounted for 53.1% of the country's total imports in the month. Total crude imports fell 22.8% to 8.46 million tons in April from a year earlier, the report said.Imports from South Korea's key supplier, Saudi Arabia, shed 37.6% on-year to 2.14 million tons in April, while combined U.S. crude imports added 13.4% to 2.14 million tons, it said.(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)
Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry maintained its 2026 GDP forecast between 2% and 4%, while highlighting downside risks amid the US-Iran conflict, according to a release on Monday.The city-state's economy rose 6% year over year during the first quarter of the year, extending a 5.7% expansion in the previous quarter.The latest expansion beat the 5.2% forecast by economists polled by Bloomberg and the 4.6% estimate in a separate poll by Reuters.On a seasonally-adjusted quarter-over-quarter basis, the economy expanded by 1%, following the 1.3% growth in the previous quarter. Reuters-polled analysts predicted a 0.3% contraction.The year-over-year GDP growth was driven by improved performance from wholesale trade, manufacturing and finance & insurance sectors, with AI-related demand further contributing to growth.The ministry had upgraded its growth forecast in February from 1% to 3%.However, the global economic growth outlook has been impacted since the US-Israel-Iran conflict, with energy supply disruptions and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz creating global supply chain disruptions, the ministry said.
Driven by rising prices due to heightened global instability, Japan's gold exports surpassed 4 trillion yen for the first time in fiscal 2025, reaching a record 4.08 trillion yen, Nikkei Asia reported on Monday.The surge likely includes bullion that had previously been smuggled into the country, the news daily said, citing Finance Ministry data.The average export price per kilogram jumped nearly 49% to an all-time high of 18.8 million yen, while the gap between export and import volumes exceeded 200 metric tons, worth 3.9 trillion yen, the publication said.Although expectations of U.S. rate cuts have faded due to Middle East-related inflation worries, reducing gold's appeal somewhat, investments in the metal remain at near historic highs, the report said.(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)