US Challenger, Gray & Christmas job-cut announcements -19.9% YoY in September; prior -38.5%.

The Digital RMB International Operation Center reports that after an initial 26 signed financial institutions, a further 39 domestic and overseas financial institutions had applied by end-September to join the CBETS cross-border settlement platform as direct participants. The center said it has continued to optimize CBETS this year, expanding cooperation to support bilateral links with overseas monetary authority payment systems and foreign CBDC systems, and to permit direct access by overseas financial institutions. The platform now supports both trade settlement and cross-border personal flows.

South Korea's KOSPI broke above 6,900 points, rising 0.93% intraday.