Japan Economy Growth Slows Amid West Asia Conflict

Japan's economy expanded at an annualized rate of 1.1% in April-June, marking its second consecutive quarter of growth.

However, this fell short of market expectations of a 2.0% increase, and was also lower than the predicted 0.5% quarter-on-quarter growth.

The weakness in domestic demand was attributed to the ongoing conflict in West Asia, which has pushed up energy prices and increased uncertainty for businesses and consumers.

Capital spending emerged as a major drag on growth, contracting by 1.2% during the quarter, while private consumption also remained weak due to households being cautious amid rising living costs.

The impact of the conflict was also evident in Japan's trade data, which showed crude oil imports plummeting by 57.3% in volume during the same period.