Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed up 1,272.45 points, or 1.94%, at 66,753.72 on Wednesday, Sept. 30.

CENTCOM said the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier is operating in the Arabian Sea to support enforcement of a U.S. blockade of Iran. As of Sept. 30, CENTCOM forces had guided 125 merchant vessels to reroute to ensure strict compliance with the blockade.

The New York Times reports Meta has used U.S. research tax-credit rules to seek billions in tax relief for its AI data centers, describing data-center projects worth billions as "experimental R&D" and treating AI compute chips purchased from suppliers including NVIDIA as eligible R&D inputs. Documents show the credit cut Meta’s tax bill by nearly $4bn last year, making it one of the largest public-company beneficiaries. Internal accountants have warned of legal risk and the IRS could challenge the claims. Tax adviser Andre Shevchuck of BPM said classifying AI data centers as "experimental R&D" is "beyond routine." The IRS has previously reviewed firms that treated ordinary commercial spending as R&D for credit purposes.