Market sources: Reserve Bank of India and Central Bank of the UAE held talks on foreign-exchange deposits.

China National Bureau of Statistics: in 1H total retail sales of consumer goods were 24.87 tln yuan, up 1.3% YoY; retail sales excluding automobiles were 22.90 tln yuan, up 2.8%. In June total retail sales were 4.27 tln yuan, up 1.0% YoY; excluding automobiles they were 3.89 tln yuan, up 3.0%.

Kpler said Ukrainian drone attacks have reduced Russian refinery throughput to a 21-year low of about 3.8 mln bpd. The firm expects Q3 refinery runs to remain subdued, with only limited recovery as ongoing strikes and repair work constrain operations. Cumulative damage has sharply raised offline capacity: as of mid‑July roughly 4.3 mln bpd of capacity was offline or affected, about 58% of Russia’s refining capacity, and an estimated 1.5–2.0 mln bpd of processing capability is fully out of operation. Kpler forecasts a modest rebound to around 4.3 mln bpd in August as maintenance eases, but says continued drone attacks pose significant downside risk.