ECB Governing Council member Pereira said a repeat of last winter would put natural gas prices under strain.

Market reports said some provinces told small and medium-sized banks to keep financial-investment growth no faster than loan growth and to limit new-bond duration to no longer than existing holdings. People familiar with the matter said Chinese regulators have not issued a nationwide mandate; bond purchases and duration choices remain within banks’ asset-liability management discretion, though institutional constraints apply. Another source said interest-rate risk levels and risk management are subject to explicit rules and local supervisors carry out routine risk monitoring and reminders for institutions in their jurisdictions.

CENTCOM said over the past seven months, aside from US Navy vessels, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has persistently and indiscriminately targeted thousands of civilian mariners transiting regional waters.