Iranian foreign ministry spokesman BAGHAEI said decisions based on national interest are every country’s right and Iran acts on its own priorities. On the Strait of Hormuz, he said if the issue were truly resolved as the US claims, Washington would not need to seek Russia’s help; the US request for assistance is clear evidence the problem remains unresolved.

Most-active lithium carbonate futures fell 10.00% intraday to 106,860 yuan/ton.

China A-shares closed lower after a weak open. Shanghai Composite fell 0.43%, Shenzhen Composite Index declined 2.03% and the ChiNext lost 2.61%. The media sector outperformed, with Guomai Culture, Guangdian Network, Huanrui Century and Xinhua Wenxuan among stocks hitting daily limit-up. Auto OEMs rallied in the afternoon with SERES at limit-up; PV equipment opened lower then recovered, Shouhang New Energy hit limit-up (20%). Other leading gainers included gaming, wind-power equipment, cross-border payments, banks and insurers. Lagging sectors included precious metals, oilfield services and engineering, real estate services, PCB, lab-grown diamonds and telecom equipment. Turnover across Shanghai and Shenzhen was 1.53 trillion yuan, down about 362.7 bln yuan from the previous session; roughly 1,100 stocks advanced and 4,000 declined.