At a July 7 briefing, CHINA Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called on the United States to fully lift its illegal unilateral sanctions on Venezuela, saying such measures impede post-quake rescue, humanitarian funding, international financial transfers and imports of essentials. She noted Washington has temporarily eased some restrictions to facilitate humanitarian aid, but other measures and frozen Venezuelan assets remain in effect and should be removed to support recovery and reconstruc

U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) crude stocks fell about 6.2 mln barrels last week to 319.5 mln barrels, the lowest level since 1983.

OCBC strategists say persistent yen weakness and rising long-end Japanese government bond yields make Japan a potential source of global market volatility. Markets view the Bank of Japan as behind the curve, intensifying downward pressure on the yen; strategists expect investors may increasingly see any future rate hikes as driven by Prime Minister Takaichi’s policy direction rather than economic data. Further yen depreciation could weigh on regional FX, notably the South Korean won and Thai baht, but OCBC flags larger spillover risk from higher long-term JGB yields — which appear to be pushing up U.S., U.K. and German government bond yields — and warns sustained JGB yield rises could lift global yields further.