- China’s industrial profits saw a decline of 1.1% year-over-year for the period from January to May 2025, a notable drop from the previous increase of 1.4%.
- In Japan, retail sales increased by 2.2% year-over-year, falling short of the expected 2.7% gain.
- The unemployment rate in Japan stands at 2.5%, aligning perfectly with forecasts.
- Tokyo’s consumer price index (CPI) for June 2025 rose by 3.1% year-over-year, slightly below the anticipated 3.3%.
In recent developments, Trump and Secretary of Commerce, Luttonik, announced a deal with China, despite some delays in details emerging. This agreement essentially aims to implement additional frameworks for the previously stalled Geneva contracts. One of the key points is that China will expedite licenses for rare earth mineral exports, while the U.S. has consented to relax certain export controls, particularly regarding shipments of ethane to China, as highlighted in yesterday’s summary.
Additionally, China’s industrial profits dropped sharply by 9.1% year-over-year in May, marking the steepest fall since October. This slump pulls down the early year figures from a +1.4% (January to April) to -1.1% for the January to May term. The ongoing struggle of Beijing’s stimulus packages to boost business profitability underscores the persistent pressures on industrial firms, resulting from deflation, weak demand, and tougher U.S. tariffs.
On the foreign exchange front, the USD/JPY pair showed minimal change after briefly surpassing 144.80 following prior data releases. Other major currencies remained fairly stable within modest ranges. Interestingly, the Taiwanese dollar hit its strongest position against the U.S. dollar in more than three years.
