Fed Governor Waller said a working group will study whether and to what extent the Fed's balance sheet can be further reduced.

After U.S.-Iran fighting resumed, several ships have completed dark transits of the Strait of Hormuz by switching off AIS transponders while visible traffic has fallen sharply. Bloomberg-cited Kpler preliminary data show six bulk commodity carriers that crossed the strait last Sunday had AIS turned off. Over the past three days dark transits outnumbered visible passages; AIS tracking showed no recorded transits early Monday. Some vessels reappeared on both sides of the strait after last publicly reporting positions on the opposite side, consistent with transit with AIS disabled. Visible passage along the southern Oman-coast route has effectively stopped since last Wednesday; Iran-designated northern safety corridor still saw a small number of vessels through last Saturday. Iran has recently attacked ships using the Oman route, including vessels that had switched off transponders, which appears to have reduced activity on that corridor.

Primary and secondary office transactions in Shenzhen totaled 6,567 units in 1H 2026, up 103% YoY and the highest in six years, the Shenzhen Housing and Urban‑Rural Development Bureau said. Qianhai’s targeted support for cross‑border e‑commerce, tech and Hong Kong‑funded firms has concentrated buyer demand. Leasing momentum carried into Q2 as AI and semiconductor tenants expanded, pushing citywide Grade‑A office vacancy rates down for a third consecutive quarter. Commercial apartment transactions also hit a five‑year high in 1H 2026 after January 2026 cuts to commercial property downpayments from 50% to 30%, which materially lowered the purchase threshold and lifted volumes.