Saudi Arabia's industrial production index declined 18.7% year over year in May, following a 19.1% decrease in April, the kingdom's General Authority for Statistics said Thursday.
The reading reflects a decline in mining and quarrying activity, as well as manufacturing activity.
On a monthly basis, the index jumped 3.2%.
Private exporters purchased 472,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery to China, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service said Wednesday.The amount is the largest since November 2025, Bloomberg reported separately the same day.Of the total, 136,000 metric tons will be delivered during the 2025/2026 marketing year and 336,000 metric tons will be due for delivery during the 2026/2027 marketing year.The USDA confirmation comes after Cofco booked at least five cargoes of soybeans for loading in September or October, according to a previous Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the matter.
The UK Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors house price balance stood at -33% in June, "broadly in line" with the revised 34% in the previous month, according to residential market survey data released Thursday.The latest reading missed the consensus estimate of -31%.House price expectations for the next three months grew to -32% from -44%, while the 12-month outlook rose to 8% from 6%, signaling a potential uptick in prices over the coming year.
The Light Traffic Index in New Zealand in June fell 0.5% sequentially and 0.4% year over year due to higher fuel prices, ANZ Research said in a report on Thursday.According to ANZ's Truckometer index, light traffic, including motorbikes, cars, and vans, is generally a good indicator of the state of demand, as opposed to production and it has been noticeably lower in recent months.Meanwhile, the Heavy Traffic Index rose 1.8% on a monthly basis and climbed 1.3% year over year, ANZ said.Heavy traffic data's upward trajectory is intact, ANZ said. It tends to provide a steer on production gross domestic product in real time.