Household consumption in the Netherlands rose by 1.8% year-on-year in May 2026, accelerating from a 1.0% increase in April and marking the strongest growth since February 2025. The increase was driven by higher spending across most categories, with consumer goods purchases rising 3.8% from a year earlier (vs 2.3% in April). Durable goods recorded the strongest growth, up 6.4% (vs 4.4%), as households bought more cars, shoes, clothing, and household goods. Spending on food, beverages and tobacco also strengthened, rising 2.0% (vs 0.7%), while consumption of other goods increased 1.4% (vs 0.5%). Meanwhile, household consumption services edged higher by 0.3% after remaining unchanged in April, supported by increased spending on transport and communication, medical services, and housing. However, households spent less in the hospitality sector and on recreation and culture. Spending on services accounts for well over half of total domestic household consumption expenditure.

The dollar index held above 101 on Wednesday after advancing in the previous session, supported by renewed safe-haven demand as the US military carried out fresh air strikes on Iran following recent attacks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The latest escalation threatened the interim US-Iran peace deal to end the war and pushed oil prices higher, stoking inflation fears and raising prospects for interest rate hikes. Meanwhile, investors awaited the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s June meeting for additional clues on the policy outlook after the central bank adopted a more hawkish tone at its June policy meeting. Markets are currently pricing in around a 50% chance of a Fed rate increase in September, up from about 46% a day prior. Elsewhere, data on Tuesday showed the US trade deficit widened to $77.6 billion in May, the largest since March 2025.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised its cash rate by 25 bps to 2.50% at its July meeting, the first hike in three years and in line with expectations, as policymakers aimed to return inflation to the 2% target, while avoiding economic disruption. The central bank said the partial reopening of the Strait of Hormuz has lowered global oil, gas and petrochemical prices, easing near-term inflation pressures. Headline inflation is expected to decline from a peak of 3.9% in Q2 2026 to around 2% over the next 12 months. However, the Committee warned that the effects of the energy shock could persist, with medium-term risks tied to firms’ pricing behaviour, margin rebuilding and a weaker exchange rate. The economy lost momentum in the June quarter as higher energy costs weighed on activity, but growth is expected to recover in the September quarter as fuel prices ease and confidence improves. Policymakers noted that further increases remain possible, with the pace dependent on incoming data.

The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.3% to below 68,100, while the broader Topix Index declined 0.8% to 4,030 on Wednesday, extending losses from the previous session as Japanese equities tracked an overnight selloff on Wall Street led by renewed weakness in semiconductor stocks. Reports that China's DeepSeek is developing its own AI chip also weighed on technology shares. Investors further reacted to escalating tensions in the Middle East and soaring oil prices after the US launched fresh air strikes on Iran following recent attacks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Heavyweight stocks posting notable declines included Tokyo Electron (-2.7%), Taiyo Yuden (-3%), Fujikura (-1.4%), Ibiden Co (-3.3%), and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (-3.4%).

Gold traded around $4,100 an ounce on Wednesday after dropping more than 1% in the previous session, as the US military launched fresh air strikes on Iran following recent attacks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The renewed escalation threatened the interim US-Iran peace deal and drove oil prices higher, stoking inflation fears and raising prospects for interest rate hikes. The US also revoked a waiver allowing Iran to sell crude on global markets, while the latest hostilities discouraged shipowners and regional producers from using Hormuz, raising the risk of renewed disruptions to global energy supplies. Meanwhile, investors awaited the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s June meeting for further clues on the policy outlook. Gold had recently rebounded after softer-than-expected US jobs data prompted markets to scale back expectations for near-term Fed rate increases, though the renewed Middle East tensions kept the outlook uncertain.

South Korea’s current account surplus widened sharply to a record high of USD 38.61 billion in May 2026, up from USD 28.29 billion in April, driven by robust growth in semiconductor exports. The goods surplus rose to USD 37.86 billion in May from USD 33.88 billion in April, as exports rose 62.9% yoy to USD 94.34 billion, outpacing the 22.2% increase in imports to USD 56.48 billion. Additionally, the primary income account swung to a surplus of USD 2.17 billion from a deficit of USD 2.53 billion, due to an increase in income on equity. Meanwhile, the services account deficit narrowed to USD 1.09 billion from USD 2.42 billion, due to smaller deficits in other business services and manufacturing services. Also, the secondary income deficit narrowed to USD 0.33 billion from USD 0.64 billion, due to a decrease in payments on secondary income. For the first five months of the year, the current account surplus surged to USD 141.28 billion from USD 33.90 billion in the same period of 2025.