Naghdi, an adviser to the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said the Strait of Hormuz will never lose its importance and that finding alternative routes to transport oil and other cargo would take many years and impose very high costs.

Southbound Stock Connect posted a net buy of CNY 14.002 billion today. Shanghai Connect: Tracker Fund of Hong Kong and Alibaba-W were net bought HKD 2.519 billion and HKD 2.282 billion respectively; the largest net sell was HKD 404 million. Shenzhen Connect: Tracker Fund and SMIC were net bought HKD 989 million and HKD 573 million respectively; Tencent was the largest net sell at HKD 374 million.

Vietnam plans to upgrade its two largest FDI destinations, Bac Ninh and Quang Ninh, to centrally governed cities to accelerate development of Samsung’s manufacturing cluster and the Ha Long Bay area. The National Assembly is scheduled to vote on the proposal at the end of the month and the measure is widely expected to pass. Bac Ninh has been a key Samsung manufacturing base since the company opened its first phone plant there in 2008; Foxconn, GoerTek and Luxshare have also established factories in the province. Matthew Powell of CBRE says the change is intended to push Bac Ninh and Quang Ninh toward higher‑tech, higher value‑added industries and to unlock the next phase of capital growth potential.