South Korea's exports in the first 20 days of June rose 49.7% YoY on a working‑day adjusted basis, versus a 52.6% gain in May, Korea Customs data showed Monday. Unadjusted exports were up 60.4% YoY, imports rose 23.2% and the trade surplus reached $17.5 bln. Semiconductor exports led gains, up 188.4% YoY; computer‑related shipments surged 293.3%; petroleum product exports also rose on higher energy prices. Data showed external demand remains strong, driven by rapid AI and data‑centre investment.

Galaxy Securities says 1H26 Middle East conflict pushed oil and inflation expectations higher, flipping market expectations from Fed cuts to a possible in‑year hike and, together with liquidity realization, caused gold to spike then come under pressure. Markets have largely priced a single Fed hike in H2 into gold. If H2 sees easing of the Middle East conflict and any Hormuz blockade, oil and inflation would likely fall and market expectations for marginal Fed easing could re-emerge, supporting a renewed gold rally. Separately, escalating strains in global order and US debt/credit risks are accelerating de‑dollarization and a re‑anchoring of the global credit/currency system, prompting central banks, institutions and households to increase gold allocations; Galaxy says this supports a medium‑to‑long‑term uptrend in bullion and higher valuations for China’s A‑share gold sector.

The National Energy Administration, in a Q&A on implementation of the renewable energy consumption minimum share and renewable electricity responsibility-weighting rules, said compute facilities, 5G base stations and charging infrastructure have seen explosive growth and will be an important component of future power demand. NEA expects compute-related electricity use to rise by more than 100 billion kWh per year during the 15th Five-Year Plan. Including these sectors in renewable consumption assessments should speed clean-power coverage of incremental demand and support nationwide green, low-carbon development. NEA also identified polysilicon and lithium-ion battery manufacturing as key links in the green energy industrial chain; bringing them under assessment is intended to enforce integrated green-production requirements for clean-energy-equipment makers and to foster coordinated upstream-downstream decarbonisation across supply chains.