The rupee's turn below 95 holds but cools, and the board stays quiet into next week's De Beers sight

Quotes stand where September's RAPI left them, with the 0.50-carat grade up 2.5% and the 1-carat grade up 0.3% for the month, and no new print this morning to reprice inventory. The quiet reflects natural-diamond demand that has not yet turned: September's Indian cut-and-polished exports were $1.29 billion, down 5.44% on the year, even as the headline jewelry number grew on gold and lab-grown goods. The next reading that can move valuations is the October RAPI in early November.

The rupee is holding below 95, now at 94.93 to the dollar, after the 1.6% firming we flagged on October 15, but this week's 0.89% gain sits below the 1.5% line that matters for quoting, so the move has settled rather than extended. For Indian exporters, that keeps the pressure on dollar receipts steady rather than deepening it. The shekel eased 1.26% to 3.11 per dollar, a local cost and financing factor for Ramat Gan desks rather than a change in the USD-quoted stone.

The De Beers October sight runs from October 26 to 30 and is next week's first event that can reset rough expectations, which sightholders will watch for any early signal on 2027 allocation and pricing. JA New York Fall runs from October 25 to 27, and the Dubai Diamond Conference, opening Dubai Diamond Week on October 26, gathers the trade alongside it. The October RAPI in early November is the next reading that can test whether September's small-stone lead held.