As widely expected, the Bank of Japan left its policy rate unchanged at 1.25% in October, keeping the door open to further increases in coming months. The BOJ was the last of three major central banks this week to pause; the Federal Reserve and ECB also held after the three jointly raised rates last month. Consecutive BOJ hikes are unprecedented this century and could stoke market volatility; Japan's benchmark rate is at a 31-year high but remains below other G7 peers. Investors are focused on G

Chinese stocks opened sharply lower then staged a midday rebound; losses narrowed across major benchmarks. At midday the Shanghai Composite was down 0.30%, Shenzhen Composite down 0.58% and the ChiNext Index down 1.18%; Beijing Stock Exchange 50 was up 0.75% and the STAR 50 Index fell 1.74%. Turnover across Shanghai and Shenzhen totaled 1.01 trillion yuan, rising about 23 billion yuan versus the prior session. Consumer and baijiu names outperformed—Qingdao Food posted a fifth consecutive daily limit-up; Heizhima, Yingjia Gongjiu, Quanyangquan and Huangtai Brewery also hit daily limits. CRO stocks rebounded; Guilin Sanjin extended to two straight limit-ups, while Lingrui Pharmaceutical, Bide Medical and Aoyang Health hit limit-up. Ports and shipping were active with Jinjiang Shipping at the limit. Film exhibitors and studios plunged—Wentou Holdings and Hengdian Film hit limit-downs; Ciwen Media, Jieteng and Huanrui Century fell. Gaming stocks weakened, led by 37 Interactive Entertainment at limit-down, with Kaiser Culture, Zhangqu Technology and Xinghui Entertainment also lower.

A股培育鑽石板塊盤中震盪回升，沃爾德漲超10%，力量鑽石、四方達、惠豐鑽石等跟漲。消息面上，培育鑽石需求或已進入量價齊升的復甦通道。