Euro area July ECB 1-year-ahead CPI expectation 2.9%, down from 3.0% previously.

At the night session open in China, main futures contracts were mostly higher. Benzene rose nearly 3%; asphalt, low-sulfur fuel oil (LU), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and fuel oil gained more than 2%. SC crude, styrene (EB), pulp, paraxylene (PX), PTA, methanol and bottle-grade PET chips advanced over 1%. On the downside, Shanghai nickel fell more than 1% and stainless steel (SS) was down about 1%.

China's Ministry of Finance announced at a State Council Information Office briefing that the cap on interest-subsidized loans for small, medium and micro enterprises will be raised from 50 mln yuan to 75 mln yuan; the cap for service-sector operating entities will be increased from 10 mln yuan to 20 mln yuan; and the subsidy cap on individual consumer loans will be raised from 3,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan to better meet business investment and household consumption needs.