China A-share precious metals sector climbed amid volatile trading; Shandong Gold jumped more than 7%, while Chifeng Gold, Shanjin International, Xiaocheng Technology and Western Gold also advanced.

Wall Street Journal reports global diesel supplies are tightening, with disruptions to Russian and Middle East flows increasing competition for US diesel as winter approaches. OPIS (Dow Jones price service) shows the European diesel benchmark rose to $167/bbl late last week from about $87/bbl a year earlier; the Northwest Europe diesel crack was roughly $90/bbl on Friday versus an average near $24/bbl last year. Unusually rich refining margins are pushing US refiners to export more product: US distillate exports jumped to a record c.1.9 mln b/d in the first week of August, cutting domestic buffers. US distillate inventories are at the lowest seasonal level in about 30 years. BofA says the market is entering peak seasonal demand with very limited room for error.

Market sources: Azerbaijan's foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador.