EU strongly condemned Belarus's decision to designate EU-supported websites and social media as "extremist information sources".

A Bank of Japan consumer-price gauge excluding fresh food and a range of government measures rose 2.3% YoY in July, above the BOJ’s 2% target and reinforcing market expectations of a September rate increase. By contrast, the Japanese government’s core CPI excluding fresh food rose 1.8% YoY. The figures are from the new suite of price indicators introduced by Ueda in March to track underlying inflation. Higher energy costs linked to the Middle East conflict are lifting firms’ input costs, which are being passed on to consumers, supporting the BOJ’s view that upside inflation risks warrant vigilance. Market pricing assigns roughly an 80% probability to a September hike.

Market sources: UK Prime Minister Burnham plans a US visit next month to lobby Trump to support Ukraine.