The Reserve Bank of India may have reduced its gold holdings by about $12 billion over the two weeks ending May 22. Over the same period, it likely increased foreign-currency assets by roughly $7.5 billion. The moves were assessed as part of a Bloomberg Economics analysis of publicly available data.

Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was nearly absent on Thursday, as operators pulled back amid heightened military tensions. After a second round of US strikes on Iranian military targets this week, no commercial vessels were seen transiting Thursday morning, following a slow Wednesday that logged six two-way crossings.

Bitcoin's expected volatility fell to a nine-month low as trading activity stayed muted and speculative interest eased away from the largest cryptocurrency. The Bitcoin Volmex Implied Volatility Index slid to 36.11 on Monday in Singapore, a level last seen in September and near its lowest point since 2023.

An AI-driven rally has pushed momentum investors toward their strongest results in decades, even as some market participants worry growth could slow amid the Iran war. Since the end of March, MSCI Inc.'s global momentum index has outperformed the MSCI All Country World Index by 17 percentage points, positioning it for the best two-month relative run in records dating back to 1991.

India's refiners have been importing Russian crude at a record pace as they prepare for a US waiver to expire after May 16. In May so far, daily inflows have averaged 2.3 million barrels, while full-month volumes are projected at about 1.9 million barrels a day.