South Korea authorities to monitor financial markets, energy supplies
SEOUL, June 23 (Reuters) - South Korea's acting finance minister said on Monday that authorities would closely monitor financial markets and energy supplies and respond if needed amid escalating tension in the Middle East after the U.S. strike on Iran.
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The Guardian
13 minutes ago
- The Guardian
David Lammy repeatedly declines to say whether British government believes US strikes on Iran were illegal
Update: Date: 2025-06-23T07:53:06.000Z Title: Welcome and opening summary … Content: Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of UK politics. Here are the headlines … Foreign secretary David Lammy has repeatedly declined to say whether the British government believes US strikes on Iran were illegal. Prime minister Keir Starmer has warned of a 'risk of escalation' in the Middle East and beyond, backing the strike on Iran's nuclear facilities and calling on Tehran to return to negotiations The government has promised electricity costs for thousands of businesses will be cut by scrapping green levies as a key part of a 10-year industrial strategy. Starmer said the plan marks a 'turning point for Britain's economy' Reform UK are to offer wealthy foreigners and returning British expats a bespoke tax regime in exchange for a one-off payment of £250,000 with all funds collected redistributed to Britain's lowest-paid workers, the party claims There are quite a few things in the diary for the day. Chancellor Rachel Reeves and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds will be out promoting the government's industry strategy. Health secretary Wes Streeting is giving a speech in London, while opposition leader Kemi Badenoch is appearing at a Policy Exchange event at lunchtime. Minister Stephen Doughty will be appearing before the foreign affairs committee discussing the Chagos agreement, while Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn faces the Northern Ireland affairs committee. In the Commons there are questions on work and pensions and a general debate on Pride month. It is Martin Belam with you today. You can reach me at
The Guardian
15 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Petrol prices could rise to $2 a litre in Australia amid Middle East conflict, analysts warn
Australian motorists could be paying $2 a litre for petrol in coming weeks, after US military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities triggered a lift in oil prices on Monday. As the IMF warned that turmoil in international energy markets posed a threat to global growth, analysts said higher fuel and power costs would be another blow to households still struggling with the high cost of living. The prospect of higher energy prices may also delay the next Reserve Bank rate cut to August instead of July, economists said. The international oil benchmark, Brent crude, briefly climbed above $US80 a barrel early on Monday morning compared with Friday's close of just over $US77, before easing to $US78.12 in late afternoon trade. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Oil has jumped by more than 20% in June, or by about $US14 a barrel, as tensions have ratcheted higher since Israel's earlier wave of strikes on Iran. Iran's Press TV reported at the weekend that the Iranian parliament approved a measure to close the strait of Hormuz, a narrow strip of water through which about a fifth of the world's oil supply passes. Fears of more severe disruptions to global oil supplies were only heightened when Bloomberg reported that two oil supertankers approaching the strait had performed abrupt U-turns after news of the US strikes emerged. But CBA energy analyst, Vivek Dhar, said it was more likely that Iran would adopt more 'symbolic' measures that allow room for deescalation with Israel and a return of oil prices to between $US60 and $US65 . Still, Dhar said it was possible that Iran could choose to disrupt shipping through the strait of Hormuz via missile and drone attacks. If that were to happen, oil prices could push to $US100 a barrel, with major consequences for the global economy. 'Right now, Brent oil at about $US80 is caught between those two polarising outcomes,' he said. Closer to home, Dhar estimated that oil at current levels of $US75 to 80 barrel, if maintained, already suggested prices at the pump would climb $1.90 to $2 a litre, from $1.75 a litre on average last week. And at $US100, motorists could be facing unprecedented unleaded fuel prices of between $2.30 and $2.40. AMP chief economist, Shane Oliver, estimated that oil prices of $US100 would translate to a lower $2.13 a litre at the pump. Even that lower level would push the average Australian household's petrol bill to a historic $74.55 a week, or about $14 a week higher than now. 'The economy is already pretty sluggish, and having to fork out an extra $15 a week, or $780 a year, would start to be quite a drag on consumer spending,' Oliver said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Oliver said higher fuel and energy prices could add 0.3 percentage points to headline inflation - and potentially more in a worst-case scenario - which could add to the case for the Reserve Bank board to hold off on cutting rates when it next meets on 7-8 July. Even so, an August move remained on the cards, Oliver said. The chief economist at Barrenjoey Capital Partners, Jo Masters, agreed that a spike towards $US100 oil prices was 'plausible', and that the uncertainty triggered by Israel's attack on Iran was more reason for the RBA to wait until August to cut rates in order to assess the fall-out on inflation and growth. The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, warned the turmoil in global energy markets could deliver another blow to a global economy already under pressure from Donald Trump's tariffs. Georgieva told Bloomberg the IMF was wary that 'there could be secondary and tertiary impacts' from oil market disruptions. 'Let's say there is more turbulence that goes into hitting growth prospects in large economies — then you have a trigger impact of downward revisions in prospects for global growth,' she said. Steve Miller, a market strategist at GSFM Funds Management, said he was a little surprised with the sanguine reaction in financial markets, as shown by only modest selling in sharemarkets and similarly modest buying in safe-haven assets, such as gold. 'The clear outcome from this is uncertainty, and we don't know what the shape of any Iranian retaliation looks like, but it could be serious,' Miller said. 'I wonder if the market's taken a view that Iran is essentially impotent, as that's not a view I would subscribe to.' He added: 'I think there could be quite severe economic consequences of this. The US is already flirting with a stagflation-like environment where inflation is at 3% and just 1.4% growth, and this could exacerbate that. If inflation gets out of the bottle and with the US deficit already at 6.5% of GDP and likely to grow - that's a very nasty cocktail for markets.'
Reuters
24 minutes ago
- Reuters
Japan factory activity returns to growth after 11-month contraction, PMI shows
TOKYO, June 23 (Reuters) - Japan's manufacturing activity returned to growth in June after nearly a year of contraction, but demand conditions remain murky due to worries over U.S. tariffs and the global economic outlook, a private-sector survey showed on Monday. Meanwhile, the service sector's expansion accelerated, pushing overall business activity to a four-month high, offering a counterbalance to the export-reliant factory sector amid diminished prospects for an early Japan-U.S. trade deal. The au Jibun Bank flash Japan manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 50.4 from May's final 49.4, ending 11 months of readings below the 50.0 threshold that indicate contraction. Among sub-indexes, factory output and stocks of purchases rebounded to growth from multi-month contraction, driving up the headline manufacturing PMI. However, new orders for manufactured goods, including from overseas customers, continued to decline, the survey showed. "Companies indicated that U.S. tariffs and lingering uncertainty over the global trade outlook continued to inhibit customer demand," said Annabel Fiddes, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, which compiled the survey. Manufacturers' confidence about their year-ahead output remained mostly unchanged from May. By contrast, the au Jibun Bank flash services PMI increased to 51.5 in June from 51.0 in May, thanks to new business growth, although growth for export businesses slowed slightly. Combining both manufacturing and service activity, the au Jibun Bank flash Japan composite PMI rose to 51.4 in June from May's 50.2, reaching its highest level since February. Cost pressures across the private sector eased in June, with input prices rising at the slowest rate in 15 months, though output price inflation accelerated to a four-month high, the composite data showed. Employment was another bright spot, with workforce numbers increasing at the quickest pace in 11 months across both manufacturing and services sectors.
