mohd izzuan/iStock via Getty Images The UK and France will host defense ministers from over 40 countries on Monday to discuss their military contributions for a naval mission to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg News reported. The countries are expected to provide demining, escorting and air policing capabilities to safeguard ships trying to travel through the key waterway. "We a...
mohd izzuan/iStock via Getty Images The UK and France will host defense ministers from over 40 countries on Monday to discuss their military contributions for a naval mission to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg News reported. The countries are expected to provide demining, escorting and air policing capabilities to safeguard ships trying to travel through the key waterway. "We are turning diplomatic agreement into practical military plans to restore confidence for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz," said UK Defense Secretary John Healey, who will co-chair the meeting with his French counterpart, Catherine Vautrin. The UK and France have started preparing for the planned mission. The UK on Saturday said it is "pre-positioning" its warship HMS Dragon in the Middle East, while France deployed its Charles de Gaulle nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the Red Sea last week. "Any deployment and stationing of extra-regional destroyers around the Strait of Hormuz, under the pretext of 'protecting shipping,' is nothing but an escalation of the crisis, the militarization of a vital waterway, and an attempt to cover up the true root of insecurity in the region," Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, posted on X following the deployments. He said only Iran can establish security in the strait, warning that foreign military deployments in the waterway "will be met with a decisive and immediate response" from Iranian armed forces. More on Iran war Commodities: Oil Rebounds On Renewed U.S.-Iran Tensions Commodities: U.S.-Iran Peace Deal Hopes Crude rises as Trump calls Iran's proposal 'totally unacceptable' Iran responds to U.S. ceasefire proposal
Pla2na/iStock via Getty Images By Lynn Song, Chief Economist, Greater China CPI inflation rebounds in April despite drag from food prices China's CPI inflation rose to 1.2% year-on-year in April, up from 1.0% in March, bucking market forecasts for a slight drop on the month. Through the first four months of the year, CPI inflation is now up 0.9% YoY. The impact of higher energy prices stemming fro...
Pla2na/iStock via Getty Images By Lynn Song, Chief Economist, Greater China CPI inflation rebounds in April despite drag from food prices China's CPI inflation rose to 1.2% year-on-year in April, up from 1.0% in March, bucking market forecasts for a slight drop on the month. Through the first four months of the year, CPI inflation is now up 0.9% YoY. The impact of higher energy prices stemming from the Iran war was clear in the data. We saw a 17.4% YoY surge in energy for the transportation subcategory, which rose 11.5% month-on-month after a 10% spike in last month's data. China's gasoline prices have risen by less than crude oil prices since the start of the Iran War, suggesting that there's still likely upside ahead for this subcategory if oil prices stay elevated. However, the reflation story is not just about energy. Core inflation rose 1.2% YoY in April, in line with the headline inflation rate. The non-food inflation (1.8%) categories generally showed signs of reflation as well. The Clothing (1.5%) and daily-use goods (1.4%) categories both remained well within positive inflation territory. A key exception was the residential rents subindex, which fell -0.6% YoY. Though we've seen a few months of housing price data showing a smaller decline, the continued fall in rents suggests that pressure remains on the property sector. Food inflation was a drag on inflation in April, down -1.6% YoY. Most food categories were in negative YoY inflation, with pork prices (-15.2%) in particular causing a surprisingly large drag. We expect this drag to fade in the coming months, though China's typical pork cycle could be affected by ongoing deals to buy soybeans, leading to oversupply. With soybeans as a key input for pig feed, excess supply could potentially keep pork prices suppressed longer than normal. PPI inflation hits 45-month high PPI inflation also surprised on the upside in April, rising to 2.8% YoY, up from 0.5% in March. This marks the ninth consecutive month in wh...