MHA analyst Connor Hicks says if a successor can deliver policy certainty, market volatility after Prime Minister Starmer’s resignation could ease. Hicks warns the next PM must balance political ambition with fiscal discipline; achieving that balance would likely be welcomed by investors seeking a more predictable, growth‑oriented policy backdrop. He says it is hard to predict the policy stance of leading contender Andy Burnham — who has previously presented as fiscally expansionary but recently

Goldman Sachs economists say Southeast Asian food prices face upside risk over the next several months. The oil-price shock from the Middle East conflict has already fed into fuel-sensitive CPI components, and rising fertilizer costs will raise agricultural input prices. An El Nifio event, possible by end-2026, could lift global temperatures and trigger further grain-supply shocks, though its impact is imprecisely estimated. Goldman Sachs estimates a 10% rise in local oil prices would lift Southeast Asia food CPI by about 0.3 percentage point after 12 months.

Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi said she accepts the Bank of Japan’s recent rate hike and reiterated the need for close government–BoJ coordination on monetary policy. She said the government expects the central bank to act in line with economic, price and financial developments to sustainably achieve a 2% price-stability target. May nationwide CPI rose 1.4% YoY, partly held down by state aid capping energy costs. Takaichi’s administration has prepared a supplementary budget to cushion households from the Middle East shock in coming months. The BoJ expects conflict-driven higher energy prices to add notable upside to inflation, lifting economists’ odds of another BoJ hike this year, possibly as early as September.