At the mid-session close, China's main futures contracts were mostly higher. Palladium, coking coal and live hogs rose more than 4%; fiberboard and lithium carbonate gained over 3%; propylene, cotton and Shanghai zinc advanced over 2%. On the downside, japonica rice, SC crude oil and synthetic rubber fell more than 1%, while polyvinyl chloride (PVC) slipped about 1%.

The New York Times reported a senior US official said US-Iran technical talks on implementing a memorandum of understanding are still planned in the coming days. Despite recent reciprocal strikes, the official said no meetings have been canceled and the sides are exchanging information via "deconfliction channels".

A Europe-wide heatwave forced EDF to curtail nuclear generation after river water temperatures rose above safe cooling limits, driving French nuclear output to a near nine-month low. RTE data show average nuclear generation fell below 33 GW on Sunday, the lowest since Oct. 5 last year. Air temperatures have eased from last week’s peak, but river cooling lags, and a potential repeat heat spell next week risks further restrictions. Supply concerns pushed French July power futures up as much as 27% on Monday to €81.01/MWh (about $92.42), the highest near-month level since January.