New Zealand Q2 CPI YoY 4.1% (expected 4.0%; prior 3.1%).

Moonshot AI is in talks for a final pre-IPO funding round seeking up to a $50 bln valuation, people familiar with the matter said. The company expects to close a financing round launched this summer—at about a $31.5 bln valuation—within days and will immediately open talks with potential investors on a new round that could be its last capital raise before a Hong Kong listing. Moonshot AI plans to complete an offshore red-chip restructuring by month-end to enable onshore financing and IPO preparation and could list in Hong Kong as soon as this year.

Itochu plans to launch in November a business to recover critical minerals from end‑of‑life smartphones and computers and resell the recovered materials, aiming to bolster Japan's domestic resource-recycling capacity, people familiar with the matter said.