GBP/USD extended losses, down 0.3% to a new daily low of 1.3215.

A bomb exploded in Monaco on Monday night, injuring Vadym Iermolaiev, who is under Ukrainian sanctions for business activity in Russia-controlled Crimea. The blast occurred at the entrance to a residential building and also wounded a woman and a child. A suspect is reported to have walked across the border into France; Monaco and French authorities are searching for the individual.

A-shares opened mixed; by midday the ChiNext Index rose 3.06%, the Shenzhen Component gained 2.47% and the Shanghai Composite was up 0.20%. Turnover across Shanghai and Shenzhen exceeded 2.1 trillion yuan; more than 2,500 stocks advanced. Glass-substrate names led gains, with panel maker BOE A briefly hitting the daily limit and reaching its highest level since Feb 2008. Semiconductors outperformed: Cambricon hit a record high and surpassed a 1 trillion yuan market cap, becoming the first STAR Market stock to do so and is up over 75% YTD. Crude palm oil and lab-grown diamond stocks rallied; innovative drug names retraced after yesterday’s strength, while baijiu and livestock sectors underperformed.