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Japanese investors net sold 4.67 trillion yen, or $29.6 billion, of U.S. Treasury, agency, and municipal bonds in the quarter ended March 31. Japan's balance of payments data showed this was the largest quarterly net sale since the second quarter of 2022. In February, overnight index swap pricing moved from two expected Fed rate cuts this year to a rate hike bet after crude oil rose about 50% amid U.S.-Israel-Iran tensions.

India raised import duty on gold and silver to 15% from 6%, increasing bullion costs in the world's second-largest gold market. The new rate combines a 10% basic customs duty and a 5% Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess, and it takes effect from midnight tonight. The Finance Ministry's move reverses a July 2024 cut that lowered the effective duty to 6%.

Japan Blockchain Foundation said it plans to issue EJPY, a yen-pegged stablecoin on Japan Open Chain and Ethereum, under a trust-type structure that NADA News said is not bound by the 1 million yen per-transaction remittance cap applied to the fund transfer service provider model. The foundation said the token is intended for B2B settlements, digital asset settlements, remittances, and payments in Web3 services. The press release said issuance details, including timing, have not been determined, although NADA News reported that the foundation aims to start issuance within this year.

Elizabeth Warren urged conflict-of-interest provisions for senior public officials in a proposed Clarity Act amendment before the Senate Banking Committee markup on May 14. Warren said the Republican amendment could worsen conflict-of-interest issues tied to President Donald Trump and his family's crypto businesses. The committee is scheduled to deliberate and vote at 2:30 p.m. UTC.

Legend said it is winding down after about two years of operation, and the app will go offline on July 12. Co-founder Jayson Hobby said the mobile DeFi aggregator found an audience but did not reach the scale needed for long-term sustainability. Legend raised $15 million from Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures in February 2025.

21Shares' first U.S. Hyperliquid ETF drew $1.2 million in net inflows and $1.8 million in trading volume in its Nasdaq debut on Tuesday. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart called the launch very solid and better than the average ETF debut. The first-day volume was far below the earlier launches of Bitwise's Solana staking ETF and Canary's XRP ETF, which each topped $50 million. In September, the SEC shifted to generic listing standards for spot crypto ETFs, making approvals easier.

A TrustedVolumes exploiter has laundered $278,000 of the $6.7 million stolen from the liquidity provider, according to PeckShield. PeckShield said the attacker sent 10.2 ETH to Tornado Cash and routed 110 ETH through THORChain to BTC. QuillAudits said a flaw in TrustedVolumes' custom order-settlement system let the attacker drain funds in a single transaction.

Federal prosecutors said a romance fraud scheme tied to Nigerian national Habeeb Anibaba drained more than $1.3 million from the City of Norfolk through more than 900 unauthorized ACH transfers. Court documents cited by 13News Now say the scheme lasted nearly a year and routed funds through victims who believed they were helping romantic partners they met online.

Morgan Stanley raised its Q2 2027 targets for four major Chinese stock indexes, including 28,400 for the Hang Seng Index and 5,400 for the CSI 300 Index. Laura Wang and her team expect a moderate rally in the Chinese market by the second quarter of 2027, driven by better corporate earnings, stronger upstream supply chain positioning, and a firmer Renminbi. Morgan Stanley favors A-shares over offshore markets and prefers thematic stock picking, while warning that short-term volatility may still persist.

South Korea's KOSPI closed 2.63% higher at 7,844.0, a record high. The move followed clarification from South Korea's president that his remarks on a universal dividend did not mean using corporate profits for payouts. SK Hynix rose 7.9%, Samsung Electronics gained 1.79%, and Hyundai Motor climbed more than 9%.