Fuel costs remained a major source of price pressure during the month. Petroleum product prices climbed 14.2% from a year earlier, though the increase slowed from July. Diesel prices jumped 19.6%, while gasoline prices rose 11.5%. Petroleum products added 0.54 percentage point to annual consumer price growth. South Korea relies heavily on imported energy, leaving domestic fuel costs sensitive to changes in global energy markets.

Semiconductor exports, the primary driver of national trade performance, soared 209% year-on-year to an all-time high of $46.65 billion. Growth in chip shipments was fueled by sustained capital expenditure programs among major global technology operators expanding data center networks and enterprise AI hardware deployments. The performance marks the third consecutive month in which semiconductor export volumes exceeded the $40 billion threshold. Additional information distributed by the Yonhap News Agency highlighted that computer product exports expanded 419.5% to $6.24 billion amid elevated global NAND memory pricing.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation put real gross domestic product at ₹81.36 lakh crore for the quarter. That compared with ₹75.46 lakh crore in the same period a year earlier. Nominal GDP reached ₹88.27 lakh crore, up 10.3% from ₹80 lakh crore. Real gross value added, another measure of economic activity, increased 8.2% to ₹73.82 lakh crore. Nominal GVA rose 11.5% to ₹80.53 lakh crore.

Japanese stocks came under sharp pressure Monday as the Nikkei 225 dropped nearly 2% in early trading. The benchmark fell 1.97% to 65,096.63 and later touched an intraday low of 64,832.10. Technology shares led much of the decline as investors reacted to higher bond yields and tighter interest rate expectations. The broader Topix also weakened early, falling 0.84% to 4,111.71. Japanese government bond yields rose at the same time, adding pressure to rate sensitive parts of the equity market.