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Fuel costs remained a major source of price pressure during the month. Petroleum product prices climbed 14.2% from a year earlier, though the increase slowed from July. Diesel prices jumped 19.6%, while gasoline prices rose 11.5%. Petroleum products added 0.54 percentage point to annual consumer price growth. South Korea relies heavily on imported energy, leaving domestic fuel costs sensitive to changes in global energy markets.
Mobile phone service charges also recorded a sharp annual increase. Mobile service prices rose 26.7% from August 2025, reflecting an unusually low comparison base. SK Telecom had offered large discounts for one month last year following a data breach. Government calculations showed headline inflation would have been about 2.5% without that mobile service effect. The temporary comparison factor therefore accounted for a significant share of August’s annual increase.

Fuel and mobile costs lift headline inflation
Underlying inflation also strengthened in August. Core consumer prices, excluding food and energy, rose 3.4% from a year earlier. That marked the strongest annual core reading since May 2023. The index excluding agricultural products and petroleum increased 3.1% over the same period. Meanwhile, the living necessities price index rose 3.2%, with food prices up 0.8% and nonfood items increasing 4.8%.
Broader price data showed increases across industrial products and services. Industrial product prices rose 3.7% from a year earlier in August. Service

Korea’s August exports jump 68.7% to $98.25 billion as Asia’s fourth-largest economy extends its trade expansion streak for a 15th consecutive month. Semiconductor exports, the primary driver of national trade performance, soared 209% year-on-year to an all-time high of $46.65 billion. Energy and chemical sectors also contributed to monthly top-line gains. Petroleum product exports climbed 65.3% year-on-year to $6.84 billion, while petrochemical exports advanced 12.2% to $3.86 billion. Deliveries to major trading partners showed broad-based expansion, with exports to China surging 119.3% to $24.1 billion and to the United States growing 89.3% to $16.5 billion.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation put real gross domestic product at ₹81.36 lakh crore for the quarter. That compared with ₹75.46 lakh crore in the same period a year earlier. Nominal GDP reached ₹88.27 lakh crore, up 10.3% from ₹80 lakh crore. Real gross value added, another measure of economic activity, increased 8.2% to ₹73.82 lakh crore. Nominal GVA rose 11.5% to ₹80.53 lakh crore. Manufacturing grew 9.2% during the quarter, while financial, real estate and professional services expanded 12.1%. Agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishing grew 3.6%. Household consumption increased 7.1%, maintaining its role as a major component of domestic demand. Investment also strengthened, with gross fixed capital formation rising close to 12% from a year earlier. Its share of nominal GDP reached 34.3%, compared with 31.4% in the corresponding quarter last year.

Japanese stocks came under sharp pressure Monday as the Nikkei 225 dropped nearly 2% in early trading. The benchmark fell 1.97% to 65,096.63 and later touched an intraday low of 64,832.10. Technology shares led much of the decline as investors reacted to higher bond yields and tighter interest rate expectations. The broader Topix also weakened early, falling 0.84% to 4,111.71. Japanese government bond yields rose at the same time, adding pressure to rate sensitive parts of the equity market.

The agreement brings the Ministry of Investment and Downstreaming together with the Ministry of Youth and Sports on business licensing. It also covers investment promotion and services for companies operating in sports-related fields. The ministries will coordinate through Indonesia’s Online Single Submission system, known as OSS. Their cooperation also includes compliance monitoring, regulatory coordination and data sharing. The framework applies to investment development across Indonesia’s sports sector rather than establishing a US$521 billion domestic industry target.

Oil prices recovered modestly on Tuesday after Brent crude and WTI fell more than 2% in the previous session. Brent futures rose 27 cents, or 0.3%, to $92.44 a barrel by 0330 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained 37 cents, or 0.4%, to $85.38. The rebound followed Monday’s sharp pullback, which ended six consecutive sessions of gains across the two benchmark crude contracts.

Alibaba Group has priced an HK$80 billion share placement to fund artificial intelligence investment and expand its AI infrastructure. The Chinese technology group will issue 710 million new ordinary shares at HK$112.70 each. The deal is worth about US$10.2 billion at current exchange rates. Alibaba expects the transaction to close on Aug. 26, subject to customary conditions.

The 2,758-TEU PanStar Acro left Busan New Port at about 9 p.m. on August 22. The ship will use the Northern Sea Route before calling at three European ports. The 45-day round trip is scheduled to end in Busan on October 5. PanStar Line Dot Com operates the vessel, which is carrying 837 TEU during the Arctic shipping trial. The ship will call at Felixstowe in the United Kingdom on September 9, Rotterdam in the Netherlands on September 11, and Gdansk in Poland on September 15.

July marked the second consecutive monthly record for imports by value. Crude oil played a major role in the increase as Japan faced higher energy costs. Crude import volumes rose 5.5% from July 2025, ending three months of year-on-year declines. The value of those crude shipments jumped 87.8% over the same period. Japan remains heavily dependent on imported energy, making changes in oil prices and exchange rates important factors in its merchandise trade figures.

U.S. stocks ended modestly higher Wednesday as long-term Treasury yields fell sharply. The S&P 500 rose 16.22 points, or 0.21%, to 7,707.98, ending a three-session losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 119.65 points, or 0.22%, to close at 53,463.05. The Nasdaq Composite added 41.38 points, or 0.16%, finishing at 26,331.09. Falling government bond yields helped major indexes recover after several sessions of pressure from rising borrowing costs. Bond prices climbed after the U.S. Treasury Department announced larger liquidity support buybacks for longer-dated government debt. Starting September 9, the maximum purchase size will increase from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation. The change covers nominal coupon securities in the 10-to-20-year and 20-to-30-year maturity sectors. The increased amounts will remain in effect through November 4. The department said strong volumes of high-quality offers supported the decision to increase liquidity operations in those sectors.