China / Policy & Diplomacy - Brazil announces visa-free entry for Chinese citizens - Premier Li Qiang meets with a delegation of US senators - Offshore yuan rises past 6.8 per dollar for the first time since February 2023 - China’s commerce ministry:

2026-05-08

China / Policy & Diplomacy - Brazil announces visa-free entry for Chinese citizens - Premier Li Qiang meets with a delegation of US senators - Offshore yuan rises past 6.8 per dollar for the first time since February 2023 - China’s commerce ministry: firmly opposes and rejects EU ban on funding projects using Chinese inverters - China’s foreign ministry, on possible official US-China AI talks: no information available at present Global Markets & Central Banks - South Korea surpasses Canada to become the world’s seventh-largest stock market - Trump extends deadline for EU tariff deal approval to July 4 - US court rules Trump’s 10% tariffs invalid, though ruling does not have broad applicability - World Gold Council: global gold ETFs returned to net inflows in April; Asia logged an eighth straight month of inflows - Poland c.bank governor: Poland holds 595 tons of gold reserves and aims to raise holdings to 700 tons -Fed’s Hammack: base case is for rates to remain unchanged for an extended period period Middle East & US–Iran - Iran: has not responded to the US proposal - Air defense systems activated in western Tehran; reports of explosions heard in Dubai - Iranian president says he recently met with the supreme leader - Middle East media say the US and Iran reached understandings on easing the US maritime blockade - US intelligence reportedly assesses Iran could withstand Trump’s blockade for at least three to four months - Saudi Arabia and Kuwait restore US access to military bases and airspace; Al Jazeera cites US officials denying reports about restarting “automatic action” measures - US State Department official: Lebanon and Israel to hold talks in Washington next Thursday and Friday