Brazilian President Lula said he wants to maintain good relations with the US and does not want conflict.

US July retail sales control group fell 0.4% MoM vs +0.3% expected; June revised down to +0.4% from +0.5%.

Wuxi municipal meteorological observatory upgraded to an orange rainstorm warning at 18:27 on Aug 14. Heavy rain is expected tonight into tomorrow morning across most of the city, concentrated in southern Yixing, Liangxi District’s Huangxiang and Huishan subdistricts and Xinwu District’s Huazhuang and Taihu subdistricts; isolated 24-hour totals may exceed 200 mm. Under the city’s flood-control emergency plan, the municipal flood-control headquarters activated a citywide level-2 emergency response at 18:00 on Aug 14.