ECB executive board member Dolenc said the ECB is not responsible for fiscal policy.

US gasoline stocks (API) for week to Oct. 2: -1.4 mln barrels; prior +2.991 mln barrels.

SATO, a Bank of Japan policy board member, said she supports a gradual approach to policy rate adjustments, signaling acceptance of continued rate increases, but warned household consumption remains weak and gave no timing for the next hike. At the September policy meeting she and one other member voted against a rate rise; both had been viewed by markets as reflationists favoring easier monetary policy and active fiscal stimulus. That vote had prompted markets to see further BOJ hikes as more difficult and the Japan–U.S. rate gap as unlikely to narrow, contributing to yen weakness. SATO’s explicit acceptance of the need to keep raising rates may reinforce market expectations that the BOJ will remain on a tightening path.