South Korea's inflation is expected to remain above 3% due to high oil prices and Middle East tensions. Consumer prices rose 3.1% in May, driven by a 24.2% surge in petroleum product prices. The Bank of Korea signals a hawkish stance, considering future rate hikes.
Global markets are experiencing significant shifts since Friday, driven by the US-Israel conflict and historically high oil prices due to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. With Brent crude oil at around $110 per barrel, production and transport costs have risen sharply, increasing the likelihood of global central banks raising interest rates.
Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $80,000 after the US Producer Price Index (PPI) reached its highest since 2022, increasing odds of further Federal Reserve financial tightening, posing a headwind for crypto and risk assets.
A quagmire in Iran, sky-high oil prices and shrinking support at home: when US President Donald Trump belatedly travels to China this week, his position has weakened. Still, he is hoping for any deal. Nervous Europeans are watching.
With a fragile US-Iran ceasefire barely holding, the Strait of Hormuz still blockaded, and all eyes on the upcoming Trump-Xi meeting, investors are embracing a new market narrative: “Nacho”. The acronym – short for “Not a chance Hormuz opens” – reflects a growing bet on prolonged gridlock and high oil prices. This marks a sharp pivot from last year’s dominant trade tactic, “Taco” – “Trump always chickens out”, which was born in the chaos of Trump’s tariff blitz and relied on the assumption that...
With a fragile US-Iran ceasefire barely holding, the Strait of Hormuz still blockaded, and all eyes on the upcoming Trump-Xi meeting, investors are embracing a new market narrative: “Nacho”. The acronym – short for “Not a Chance Hormuz Opens” – reflects a growing bet on prolonged gridlock and high oil prices. This marks a sharp pivot from last year’s dominant trade tactic, “Taco” – “Trump Always Chickens Out”, which was born in the chaos of Trump’s tariff blitz and relied on the assumption that...
AirAsia X co-founder Tony Fernandes said he is preparing to launch a new airline, betting that expanding while the aviation industry’s being roiled by high oil prices will pay off in the future. The new airline will be announced in the next month or two, Fernandes said in a video interview from Montreal late on Wednesday. The low-cost Southeast Asian carrier group is moving some planes for the business it is starting, he said, without providing further details. The expansion would come on the...
SEOUL, May 6 (Yonhap) -- Inflation is projected to rise further this month, driv...
Company had struggled to increase post-pandemic demand before war in Iran pushed up jet fuel costsSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxSpirit Airlines has announced that it has gone out of business after the low-cost airline ran out of cash and a rescue attempt by the Trump administration appeared to stall.The airline that once operated hundreds of daily flights on its bright yellow planes and employed about 17,000 people said that after 34 years it had “started an orderly wind-down of our operations, effective immediately”. Continue reading...
US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $490 million in net outflows over three days (April 13-15, 2026), reversing a two-week inflow trend and signaling diminished institutional demand. Bitcoin failed to reclaim the $78,000 level while the S&P 500 hit record highs. However, analysts argue rising inflation eroding real yields on fixed income will likely fuel demand for scarce assets like Bitcoin, with $3.3 billion in net inflows since March providing longer-term support.
Such prices encourage consumers to seek alternative ways to secure energy resources in the long term, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said
The UAE’s departure from OPEC signals that oil prices may fall, which would be unprofitable for the United States, a country that relies on consistently high oil prices as an exporter, Vladimir Dzhabarov said
CNBC Fed Survey shows only 58% of 26 respondents expect any rate cut in 2026, with average funds rate forecast at 3.5% (just 0.14 point below current). High oil prices are seen pushing inflation up 0.6 percentage point while cutting growth by 0.5 point, complicating Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh's ability to deliver Trump-desired rate cuts. Recession probability remains at 33%.
A global panel of climate, economics and technology experts has been launched in Santa Marta, Colombia, to advise countries on transitioning away from fossil fuels. The initiative, part of the first global conference on fossil fuel transition (April 24-29), brings together 54 countries and 2,800 civil society representatives. The panel will be chaired by experts from Cameroon, Germany and Brazil, offering policy advice based on milestones aligned with 1.5C heating scenarios. Colombia unveiled a draft roadmap targeting 90% fossil fuel reduction by 2050, with projected economic benefits of $280bn over 24 years.
Chinese battery cell manufacturers are poised to benefit from the US-Israeli war in Iran, according to Fitch Ratings, even as fierce competition, overcapacity and thin margins weigh on some downstream firms. Global demand for energy storage was set to rise, driven by high oil prices and rapidly expanding artificial intelligence (AI) data centres, said Wang Ying, a managing director at the credit rating agency. “We believe that China’s leading energy storage cell manufacturers will be the bigger...
Asian markets mixed as investors weighed US-Iran peace talk hopes against geopolitical risks and elevated oil prices. Tokyo's Nikkei rose 1.1%, South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.8%, while Hong Kong and Shanghai slipped. Oil prices hovered near $95/barrel despite slight declines, with markets watching Strait of Hormuz disruptions.
