The U.S. Treasury said Secretary Bessent held an online meeting with his South Korean counterpart.

China A-share tech sector's recent pullback has attracted scrutiny. Liang Hong, founder of large private fund Hainan Xiwa, wrote in a weekly investor note that he learned certain large insurance asset managers bought tech at July highs and then sharply cut positions in late September to stop losses—actions from long-term capital that he says exacerbated the decline. The report and related discussion circulated quickly in institutional circles. A TOP EXECUTIVE at a leading insurance asset manager said policy support—including an annual target to channel 30% of new premiums into markets and a lower equity investment risk factor—has enabled the firm to steadily raise its strategic equity allocation and continue supplying long-term, stable capital to the market. An anonymous brokerage analyst said insurance outsourced allocations (to public fund managers) were trimmed at end‑Q3 but had limited impact on the broader market.

LME inventories: copper down 1,625 tonnes, aluminium unchanged, lead down 3,725 tonnes, nickel up 276 tonnes, zinc up 5,550 tonnes, tin down 70 tonnes.