Gold prices rose during Asian trading on Monday, on optimism of a US interest rate cut in September, and escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

The Qatar Stock Exchange Index closed its trading today, up by 37.39 points, or 0.37 percent, to reach 10135.75 points.

Australia has signed a four-year, A$2.2 billion ($1.4 billion) contract with submarine manufacturer ASC to upgrade the navy's Collins class submarines.

South Korea's economy retreated in the second quarter of the year as weaker domestic demand clouded recovery prospects, despite robust exports, S. Korean News Agency (Yonhap) reported.

The inflation rate in the Sultanate of Oman increased by 0.7 percent in June 2024 compared to the same month in 2023.

Japan recorded a trade surplus of 224.038-billion-yen last month, while analysts had expected a trade deficit of 240 billion yen, compared to a deficit of 1.220 trillion yen in May last year.

Official data showed on Wednesday that the inflation rate calculated by the Consumer Price Index in the UK remained stable at 2% during the past month of June.

Kuwait Oil Company announced Sunday the discovery of huge commercial quantities of light oil and associated gas in the al-Nokhatha offshore field located east of Failaka Island within Kuwaiti economic waters.

China's foreign trade registered a record-high increase of 6.1% in the first half of the current year, providing stronger momentum for economic recovery.

Oil prices recovered during early trading today, Wednesday, after three days of decline on reports of likely decline in US crude and fuel inventories last week, indicating stabilization in demand and with improved expectations related to lowering interest rates.

China's passenger car exports reached 378,000 units in June last month, recording a 28% annual increase.

South Korean car exports rise 3.8% year-on-year to $37 billion in first half of this year by the virtue of increasing its exports to the United States.

The Bank of Korea announced on Friday that South Korea has recorded the largest current account surplus in 32 months in May, driven by a sharp increase in the trade surplus and an increase in dividend payments.

More than 7,000,000 passengers travelled through Sofia Airport in 2023, up from the pre-pandemic 2019, the Bulgaria news agency has learnt from a report by SOF Connect published on Wednesday.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has achieved 22.9% growth in spending by foreign visitors during the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023.

Gold prices stabilized in Asia in the early hours of Monday morning, supported by data showing a decline in inflation in the United States, which raised hopes that the US Federal Reserve will begin reducing interest rates this year.

The World Bank announced that official remittances to low and middle-income countries declined in 2023 to an estimated $656 billion, after experiencing strong growth during the 2021-2022 period.

Foreign direct investment in actual use in China has reached 412.5 billion yuan (about 57.94 billion US dollars) in the first five months of the current year 2024.

Kuwait's trade surplus with Japan increased last May by 2.3 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching 82.7 billion Japanese yen (522 million US dollars), rising for the first time in three months.

South Korea's exports of ICT products jumped more than 30 percent in May thanks to strong global demand.