Market sources: Qatar will extend the force majeure on LNG deliveries to Pakistan through October.

The Bank of Thailand governor said recent gold-trading curbs have weakened gold's influence on the baht and could be tightened further. In March the BOT capped online gold trades at 50 mln THB per person per day (~$1.5 mln) and encouraged larger investors to settle in USD rather than THB; the governor said the cap could be cut to 30 mln THB or lower if needed. The 60-day correlation between the baht and gold prices has fallen from a 0.85 peak last year to 0.3 in April, a four-year low. The BOT is increasing scrutiny: requiring declarations for physical gold withdrawals above 2 kg has reduced such withdrawals by about 70%. Authorities are also tightening controls on cash payments for gold purchases over 10 mln THB and on cash deposits/exchange transactions above 5 mln THB. The governor said he supports a Thai Finance Ministry proposal to tax some gold transactions to boost transparency, provided rates are low and do not burden legitimate businesses or consumers.

Iran's foreign ministry urged countries to avoid implementing US sanctions and said Iran is determined to use all available capabilities to defend the country against the "US-Israel joint military and economic offensive".