A second quiet session: September's narrow, small-stone-led RAPI is digested and the board is unchanged, so the next moves sit on the calendar — the mid-October US and Dubai shows, then the October index in early November

Two sessions on from September's RAPI and the board has not moved. The month's gains sat at the small end, with the 0.50-carat index up 2.5% against only 0.3% for one carat, so the firmness the desk tracked through September reads as a small-stone recovery rather than a broad one, and IDEX's September report still frames the wider market as under pressure. For a trader quoting this morning, the practical picture is unchanged from the print: better support on sub-0.50-carat rounds, and modest expectations on one carat and up.

With prices digested, the calendar now carries the next moves. The United States fall-show run opens mid-month with JIS in Miami Beach from October 16 to 19, ahead of the Dubai cluster at month-end: the Dubai Diamond Conference on October 26 to 27 and JGTD from October 27 to 29, where the season's order tone gets set. A reported, still-unconfirmed US step on Indian gem and jewelry goods carries a mid-October date worth confirming with a customs broker. The next real price test is the October RAPI, due in early November, which shows whether the small-stone lead holds or fades.