Deutsche Securities chief economist Kentaro Koyama said the Bank of Japan would need to fully explain any decision to halt tapering of its monthly bond purchases, particularly after media reports that the government might tacitly permit further rate hikes only if tapering is stopped. He warned that if the BOJ both raises rates and stops tapering, markets and the public could interpret it as a political deal with the government, creating a serious risk of questions over the BOJ's independence.

The World Gold Council said 45% of central banks surveyed expect to increase gold holdings over the next 12 months, up 2 percentage points from a year earlier. The annual survey of 74 central banks (conducted Feb. 5–May 19) found 54% expect holdings to remain unchanged and 1% expect reductions. Most responses were received after the late‑Feb Middle East conflict that pushed oil higher and briefly weighed on gold; WGC said the recent price dip has not changed central banks’ appetite for gold. 93% of respondents now hold gold, versus 81% a year ago. 90% cited gold’s crisis performance as a key reason for holding; other drivers were long‑term value storage and portfolio diversification. Emerging-market and developing-economy respondents (85%) were especially likely to view gold as a geopolitical‑risk hedge. In the past 12 months, 9% of respondents increased domestic gold storage (vs. 5% a year ago) and 10% diversified overseas storage locations (vs. 2%); looking ahead, 7% plan to increase domestic storage and 9% plan to diversify overseas storage in the next 12 months.

國家統計局：5月份國民經濟運行總體平穩、向新向優。