The UAE and the Philippines are expected to sign a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) next month, which would boost trade and unlock bilateral investment between the two countries. This would be the Philippines’ first free trade agreement with a Middle Eastern country. The announcement was made during a business forum at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce.
Durable goods orders in the US fell sharply in April, dropping 6.3% m/m, though not as much as the predicted 7.8% drop. This followed a downwardly revised 7.6% boost in March as business looked to front-load orders in order to get ahead of incoming tariffs. Stripping out transportation, orders were up 0.2% following a 0.2% fall in March. In other US data, the Conference Board consumer confidence index surprised to the upside at 98.0 in May, up from 85.7 previously and beating the predicted 87.1, boosted by more positive news around paused tariffs.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut its official cash rate by 25ps, taking the benchmark interest rate to 3.25%. This was the sixth cut in a row from the RBNZ as the central bank looks to support growth, and it signalled that it had room for further easing.
CPI inflation in France came in lower than expected in May, up 0.6% y/y compared with the predicted 0.9%. Prices were 0.2% lower than the previous month.
Today’s Economic Data and Events
14:30 India industrial production, % y/y. Forecast: 1.3%
Saudi Arabia M3 money supply, % y/y, April
Saudi Arabia SAMA net foreign assets, SAR, April
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