Gaza Government Media Office said 189,000 aid trucks were expected to enter the Gaza Strip, but only 66,607 have entered so far.

At the mid-session close Hong Kong shares were weaker: the Hang Seng Index fell 2.09% and the Hang Seng TECH Index dropped 3.84%. Internet and large-cap tech names led losses — Alibaba (09988.HK) down near 10%, Baidu (09888.HK) and Xiaomi (01810.HK) down about 4% each, Tencent (00700.HK) down nearly 3%, Meituan (03690.HK) and JD (09618.HK) also lower. Memory semiconductor, optical-communications and PCB-related stocks underperformed; MINIMAX-W (00100.HK) fell over 9% and Zhipu (02513.HK) dropped more than 8%.

Thailand's finance ministry will consider imposing taxes on gold trading and gold imports.