【期貨熱點追蹤】棕櫚油庫存創歷史新高引發精煉廠停收，馬來西亞獨立壓榨廠與小農面臨斷收威脅，產業甚至陷入調和外銷的信任風暴！

New Zealand unemployment rose to 5.7% in Q3 from 5.6% in Q2, versus economists’ expectation of 5.5%. Part-time employment increased by 15,000 while full-time employment fell by 17,000; labour underutilisation held at 13.8% and the employment rate slipped to 66.4% from 66.7%. Released Wednesday ahead of Saturday’s closely contested election, the data runs counter to market expectations and supports the RBNZ’s recent caution on further hikes. The RBNZ MPC voted 4-3 to hold the OCR at 2.75% days earlier, though Governor Anna Breman signalled the possibility of additional rate increases; money markets had largely priced in further tightening.

Israeli officials have shared intelligence with the US over the past two weeks claiming Iran is accelerating chemical-weapons development and considering missile or other delivery, and that the chemical threat is more urgent than Tehran’s nuclear program. US intelligence broadly assesses Iran is developing chemical capabilities but disagrees sharply on whether Iran’s leadership would use them; weapons experts say loading agents onto ballistic missiles is feasible but effective dispersal is technically challenging; Iran denies having chemical weapons. Some US officials view Israel’s warnings as pressure to push the US toward renewed large-scale military action, and Gulf states have expressed skepticism; other US officials say the threat merits serious attention. CENTCOM has drafted plans to strike Iran as early as Wednesday after the US midterm elections and expects to deploy three carrier strike groups to the Middle East, though the operational window may be short and one carrier is due back in port in early November. US intelligence assesses Iran’s threat to US interests in the region is at its highest level since the February outbreak of war, citing espionage, cyberattacks and AI-enabled voice-phishing.