Thailand's Headline Inflation Cools to 2.42% in June; Core Inflation Hits Six-Year High

Thailand's headline inflation slowed more than expected in June as easing Middle East tensions cooled energy markets, although strong demand at home pushed core inflation to a six-year high. The headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.42% year over year, softer than May's 2.79% increase, according to Ministry of Commerce data released Monday. The reading came in below analysts' expectations for a 4% increase, according to Trading Economics data. Core inflation, which strips out volatile energy and fresh food prices, rose 1.23% in June from a year earlier, faster than the 0.92% increase in May and against analysts' 1.0% consensus forecast. It marked the highest print since June 2023. While local fuel costs remain high, global crude prices experienced a sharp selloff following a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding that triggered a fragile ceasefire. "The sell-off has been driven firstly by the premature expectation of a normalization in oil supply from the Persian Gulf, and secondly, clear weakness in the physical market," ING's head of commodities strategy, Warren Patterson, said in a June 29 note. "However, we believe that the market is being too optimistic over the.