US MBA mortgage refinance application index for week ending Oct 9: 513.5, prior 515.8.

Goldman Sachs economists say the Reserve Bank of Australia's September policy minutes were more hawkish than the post-meeting press conference and may have lowered the threshold for a November rate move. The minutes highlighted heightened concern about domestic capacity pressures and treated stronger-than-expected July CPI as supporting evidence. Goldman still expects the cash rate to remain at 4.60%, but says the minutes reduce the hurdle for a November hike, with the decision to depend on Q3 CPI.

After an early dip Hong Kong stocks recovered; Hang Seng Index (HSI) was up 0.16% at midday and the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 1.61%. New-consumer names outperformed—Miniso (09896.HK) +5%, 00325.HK +4%—while EVs and related stocks strengthened: Xiaomi Group (01810.HK) +5%, NIO-SW (09866.HK) +4%. Internet leaders were active—Meituan (03690.HK) +4%, Alibaba (09988.HK) +3%. Artificial intelligence, power, oil, food, agriculture and PCB sectors were among top gainers; innovative drugs, OLED, mainland banks, nonferrous metals, chips and optical-communications underperformed. Duiba (01753.HK) surged ~43% after saying its AI short-drama business is expected to produce net profit in July, August and September 2026 consecutively.