As of the 23:00 close, China most-active futures contracts were mixed. Low-sulfur fuel oil (LU) rose over 6% and fuel oil gained more than 4%; propylene, LPG, polypropylene, plastics and pure benzene each showed monthly-average gains above 1%. On the downside, methanol fell over 5%, ethylene glycol (EG) slipped about 2%, and asphalt, PVC and synthetic rubber declined more than 1%.

China’s Ministry of Education will roll out a vocational-education work plan aimed at expanding and upgrading service-sector capacity by prioritizing high-skilled talent. The plan will target eight priority fields chosen for large capacity, strong growth support, clear GDP pull and acute skills shortages, and sets a task ledger covering teaching-factor reform, vocational skills training and vocational education standards with responsibility-based, checklist implementation. For technical support services it will focus on high-end equipment clusters in Jing-Jin-Ji, Chang-Zhu-Tan and Chengdu–Chongqing, prioritizing high-skilled training in aerospace equipment and intelligent non-destructive testing for rail transit. For software and data services it will target the Greater Bay Area, key central and western cities and national data-labeling pilot cities, emphasizing large-scale domestic software adoption, AI-related needs and training in HarmonyOS application and human-in-the-loop data labeling.

Bank of England MPC member Mann said conditions could be forming for wages and prices to become mutually reinforcing and to continue rising.