Asia-Pacific equities advanced after a softer U.S. jobs report, with the unemployment rate rising to 4.2% and money markets pricing less than a 25% chance of a Fed rate hike in October. MSCI’s Asia Pacific index gained 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 2.03% and the broader Topix added 1.11%. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to publish minutes from its September meeting on October 7, which may shed light on how policymakers view inflation trends.

Revisions to U.S. employment data have heightened concerns that the labor market is weakening, prompting investors to sharply scale back expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike this month. The implied probability of an increase has fallen to 22% from 64% a week earlier. The dollar slipped as global equities gained, with Japan’s Nikkei up 2% in early trade and Australian shares rising 0.5%. MSCI’s Asia-Pacific ex-Japan index edged higher, while spot gold added 0.3%.

The G7 said it will release up to 100 million barrels of oil and diesel over the next four months, with a substantial “frontloaded” drawdown of diesel stocks over the next 20 days. Industry expectations put the split at roughly 50 million barrels each of oil and diesel, adding less than 1 million barrels a day to global supply. The move is widely seen as an emergency effort to curb fuel prices in the US ahead of the midterm elections, though markets view any relief as potentially short-lived.

Indian equities extended their losing streak as rising global bond yields and elevated crude oil prices weighed on sentiment and stoked concerns over the FY27 economic outlook. The Nifty 50 fell 198.50 points and the BSE Sensex dropped 570.59 points. HDFC Bank received regulatory approval to appoint a new managing director and CEO. Infosys’ ADR rose nearly 8% in premarket trading after peer Accenture reported better-than-expected results and issued a stronger FY27 revenue outlook.

Arbitrum’s Security Council took emergency action on Oct. 2 to pause new Stylus contract activations on Arbitrum One and Arbitrum Nova, citing security concerns about handcrafted WebAssembly programs that could threaten chain liveness. Stylus, launched in September 2024, allows developers to build Ethereum-compatible smart contracts using languages such as Rust. Activations normally last 365 days, while keepalive renewals remain permissionless. The move is the latest in a recent string of security-related incidents involving Arbitrum.

The IMF completed the second and third reviews of El Salvador’s $1.4 billion loan program on Oct. 1, clearing an immediate disbursement of about $138 million. El Salvador holds about 7,794 Bitcoin worth roughly $666.1 million. Under the IMF program, the government has recommitted to limits on further state Bitcoin accumulation, narrowing its ability to expand reserves using the public balance sheet.

Data from JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Kpler show Persian Gulf crude exports have returned to prewar levels, with September flows averaging 16.5 million to 19 million barrels per day. About 40% of crude is now shipped via pipeline routes that bypass the Strait of Hormuz, up from 17% before the war. Of the crude that still crossed Hormuz in August, more than 70% switched tankers offshore. Markets are also watching whether Iran could resort to more extreme action.

Iran’s oil minister, Mohsen Paknejad, resigned on Sunday, with state media giving no reason. Hours earlier, he said oil revenue was still coming in. However, Iran loaded no oil at its export terminals in September, Fortune reported.