Barnabas Gan, chief economist at a Malaysian bank, said in a note that intensifying economic headwinds and global geopolitical uncertainty are likely to weigh on consumer and business confidence and curb discretionary spending in H2, notably in fashion and entertainment. Elevated fuel and transport costs could pass through to broader consumer prices, lift inflation and erode purchasing power. The bank maintains its forecast for Singapore retail sales growth of 3.0% in 2026.

South Korea has launched a 24-hour KRW trading system, Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said Monday after visiting Hana Bank’s trading floor in central Seoul. Koo said the launch reflects confidence in Korea’s economic fundamentals, citing strong external resilience and a record current account surplus, and is a market-access reform responding to rising foreign investor demand — evidenced by Korea’s inclusion in the World Government Bond Index. He added that round-the-clock trading will allow domestic and foreign investors and trading firms to transact FX without time constraints and will be a starting point for the won’s next leap.

The ECB said its Target2 (T2) high‑value payments system, which settles daily euro and Danish krone transactions in central bank money, has resumed normal operations after a brief processing disruption. An earlier operations update said T2 entered a "non-mandatory maintenance window", delaying the start of the euro and DKK settlement window.