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Inflation Moderates in Cyprus Amid Sectoral Price Shifts

In May 2025, Cyprus experienced a moderated inflationary trend with a notable decrease of 0.2 percent, despite a modest rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI advanced slightly by 0.26 points to 117.57 units from 117.31 in April 2025, demonstrating that while prices continue to rise, the pace has eased relative to previous periods.

Sectoral Highlights And Annual Comparisons

Analyzing annual performance, the agricultural sector led with a 4.7 percent increase, closely followed by a 3.5 percent rise in services. However, significant declines were recorded in petroleum products and electricity, dropping by 12.8 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively, over the year. Monthly, petroleum products decreased by 3.3 percent, marking the most substantial shift from April 2025.

Consumer Categories: Winners And Losers

A closer look at specific categories reveals that, compared to May 2024, restaurants and hotels experienced the steepest price ascent at 4.9 percent, with recreation and culture and education also showing upward trends at 4.0 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively. In sharp contrast, transport and clothing, and footwear witnessed declines of 6.6 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively. Furthermore, between April and May 2025, clothing and footwear prices increased by 2.4 percent, while transport prices fell by an equal margin.

Impact Analysis Over The First Five Months

From January to May 2025, year-on-year fluctuations highlighted a 5.6 percent drop in clothing and footwear and a 4.6 percent rise in restaurants and hotels. Education also saw a 3.7 percent increase, reinforcing the mixed effects across consumer sectors.

Index Point Contributions

Examining the contributions toward the annual CPI change, restaurants and hotels added 0.52 points, while food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed 0.46 points. In a counterbalancing trend, the transport sector exerted a significant negative pressure, subtracting 1.21 points from the index. Fresh fruit and catering services provided positive impulses, adding 0.25 and 0.53 points respectively, whereas petroleum products had the most pronounced adverse impact, decreasing the index by 1.47 points.

Monthly Adjustments And Final Observations

When comparing May 2025 to April 2025, transport again emerged as a critical factor, reducing the index by 0.41 points. Conversely, fresh fruit and clothing items added 0.22 points and 0.14 points, respectively. The monthly trend was further influenced by a 0.30 point reduction from petroleum products, underscoring the role of energy prices in the broader inflation landscape.

Apple Surpasses Nvidia As Investors Reassess The True Cost Of The AI Boom

Apple Reclaims Title As World’s Most Valuable Company

Apple has overtaken Nvidia to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company again, highlighting a shift in investor sentiment as markets reassess the costs and returns of the artificial intelligence boom.

Apple Regains The Top Spot

Apple (AAPL) ended Monday with a market capitalization of $4.95 trillion, surpassing Nvidia (NVDA), whose valuation fell 5% to $4.77 trillion. It was the first time since April 2025 that Apple closed a trading session ahead of the AI chipmaker.

The move comes ahead of Apple’s quarterly earnings report on Thursday, which investors will closely watch for updates on the company’s AI strategy and broader business performance.

Investors Reassess AI Spending

Nvidia’s decline reflects a broader pullback in AI-related semiconductor stocks as investors increasingly scrutinize the returns on heavy infrastructure spending. The company had held the top valuation since June 2025, when it overtook Microsoft, and briefly surpassed a $5 trillion market capitalization in October.

At the same time, investor interest has broadened beyond graphics processing units to other parts of the AI supply chain, including memory and storage technologies that support expanding data center capacity. Companies such as Micron Technology (MU), SK Hynix and Sandisk (SNDK) have benefited from that shift as demand for AI-related memory and storage infrastructure continues to grow.

Apple’s Capital Strategy Draws Attention

Apple shares have gained 24% so far this year, compared with a 4% increase for Nvidia.

Investors have viewed Apple’s more measured AI spending strategy favorably. Rather than investing heavily in its own AI infrastructure, the company has relied more extensively on leased computing capacity, limiting capital expenditure while continuing to expand its AI capabilities.

The contrast comes as markets increasingly focus on how quickly large AI investments can generate sustainable financial returns.

Earnings In Focus

Apple’s earnings report could also provide an update on the impact of the global memory chip shortage, which has emerged as a growing challenge for hardware manufacturers.

The company raised prices for some Mac and iPad models in June, becoming one of the first major consumer technology companies to publicly reflect higher memory component costs.

Investors will be watching whether Apple can sustain its recent market outperformance as AI-related infrastructure costs continue to rise and supply constraints persist.

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