Producer prices in South Korea increased 8.5% year over year in May, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea released on Friday.
The reading compared with the 7.2% expansion recorded in the previous month. It beat the Trading Economics' forecast of a 7.5% growth.
The performance during the month was driven primarily by manufacturing producer prices, which rose 13.3% year over year, sharper than the 11.8% jump the previous month.
The March quarter New Zealand gross domestic product (GDP) data showed that monetary policy easing was working, but through business investment and trade rather than the consumer, Jarden said in a note late on Thursday.New Zealand's GDP rose 0.8% on a quarterly basis in the March quarter, but slightly below the 1% forecasted by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ). The December GDP was revised up to 0.5% from 0.2%, lifting annual growth to 1.5% through the year.GDP per capita rose just 0.5% in the March quarter after a flat December quarter. The resilience in the period came from the parts of the economy that cool slowly when rates rise. Consumer confidence has partly recovered but remains significantly below the long run average, Jarden noted.The upward revision to late-2025 activity leaves the level of output higher than the RBNZ assumed in May, the investment firm said. As a result, the negative output gap was smaller than it carried into the forecast. A narrower gap means a rate hike in July is "very likely." It also expects another rate hike in September to a terminal 3% by the end of 2027.
Japan's core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food prices, rose 1.4% year over year in May, according to data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications released on Friday.The reading was in line with the consensus forecast tracked by Investing.com, and was unchanged from the 1.4% expansion recorded in the previous month.Meanwhile, headline inflation accelerated to 1.5% from 1.4% the previous month, but was lower than the Trading Economics forecast of 1.6%.On a month-over-month basis, Japan's core CPI climbed 0.4% following the zero change between March and April.The seasonally adjusted month-over-month headline inflation also quickened to 0.4% in May from 0.1% in April.
New Zealand recorded a goods trade surplus of NZ$800 million in May, compared with a surplus of NZ$1.6 billion in April, Stats NZ data showed on Friday.Goods exports rose 18% to NZ$8.88 billion, while imports rose 26% to NZ$8.08 billion.Exports were driven by a 43% increase in meat and edible offal, while mechanical machinery and equipment recorded the largest decline, falling 11%.Petroleum and petroleum products led the increase in imports, rising 104%, while ships, boats, and floating structures led the decline, falling 91%.In the year ended May, New Zealand recorded a trade deficit of NZ$3.37 billion, compared with a trade deficit of NZ$4.01 billion in the year ended May 2025.