Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hideki Murai: (When asked whether the conditions for ending negative interest rates are met) The specific monetary policy depends on the Bank of Japan.

Hideki Murai, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan: I hope the Bank of Japan will continue to work closely with the government to guide monetary policy to achieve the price target sustainably.

Hideki Murai, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan: Japan is gradually experiencing a positive upward cycle, and the problem of stagnant wage growth is gradually being resolved.

Hideki Murai, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan: It is very important to embed new business practices in Japan to drive costs to be appropriately passed along the entire supply chain.

Ukraine said it attacked the Russian ship "Sergei Kotov".

HSBC: It predicts that the oil market will experience an average deficit of 1 million barrels per day in 2024 (previously expected to be a deficit of 600,000 barrels per day), and expects the market to be basically balanced in 2025 (previously expected to be a surplus of 300,000 barrels per day).

HSBC: For 2024, Brent crude oil price is still expected to be US$82.5 per barrel, while from 2025 it is expected to be US$76.5 per barrel.

HSBC: Our view remains that OPEC+ will not exit its strategy as we believe there is insufficient room to fully unwind production cuts in the medium term.

Gazprom: It will continue to deliver natural gas to Europe through Ukraine, with a delivery volume of 42.4 million cubic meters on Tuesday.

Makoto Kanda, Japan’s chief foreign exchange affairs officer: The international order is facing more and more challenges, including those posed by the “global South.”

Japan’s Chief Foreign Exchange Affairs Officer Masato Kanda: Efforts must be made to achieve a major budget balance in the 2025/26 fiscal year to achieve responsible fiscal management.

Japan’s Deputy Minister of Finance Masato Kanda: Given the assumption that interest rates will rise from 1.1% to 1.9%, we must be prepared to deal with a higher interest rate environment.

Goldman Sachs: The oversupply forecast for cobalt remains unchanged in 2024, and the scale of the oversupply will double in 2025.

Goldman Sachs: The combination of large supply channels and lower demand for electric vehicles in the West means that the surplus of lithium and nickel is expected to remain considerable in 2024.

Goldman Sachs: Recent short covering in lithium and nickel should not be misinterpreted as the end of the bear market.

Goldman Sachs: Cobalt ($26,000 per ton, previously forecast at $28,000 per ton), nickel ($15,000 per ton) and lithium carbonate ($10,000 per ton, previously forecast at $11,000 per ton) are expected to fall by 12% each in 12 months %, 15% and 25%.

Ukrainian Intelligence: A Ukrainian navy drone sabotaged a Russian Black Sea Fleet patrol ship near Crimea.

Bitcoin fell by US$800 in the short term, falling to US$67,000 per coin, with an intraday decrease of 0.75%.

U.S. Central Command: Troops struck two anti-ship cruise missiles that posed an "imminent threat" to commercial vessels and U.S. Navy vessels.

U.S. Central Command: A missile hit the M/V MSC SKY II vessel and caused damage, initial reports indicate no casualties.