On July 27 local time, US Central Command said that since resuming a maritime blockade of Iran it has forced 17 merchant vessels to change course, disabled two vessels and boarded and inspected two others.

Citigroup traders are positioned for the Federal Reserve to leave rates unchanged this week, Akshay Singal, the bank’s global head of short-term rates trading, said; their positions would profit if the Fed holds. Singal said Citigroup still expects no change and noted Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has urged markets to focus on the data, which he says currently do not warrant a rate hike.

July 27 — The China Association of Listed Companies’ June monthly report showed Q2 divergence in listed firms’ market-cap structure. Companies above 1 tln yuan rose by 2 (Zhongji Xuchuang, Cambricon); those above 100 bln yuan increased by 38; above 50 bln yuan increased by 76. Firms with market caps of 5–50 bln yuan fell by 270, while companies below 5 bln yuan rose by 226. Median market value at end-1H was 6.15 bln yuan, down 330 mln yuan from end-Q1.