Week opens quiet: the October RAPI, due in early November, will judge September's small-stone lead against the dealers' softer read

The board opens the week where September's RAPI left it, with the 0.50-carat index up 2.5% for the month against 0.3% at 1 carat, so the last index firmness still sits at the small end. That print is a month old, the underlying Rapaport price list has not been revised since September 11, and Rapaport's October 22 market comment already reported 0.30- to 0.89-carat rounds softening as dealer inventory built. The September index and the live dealer read now point in opposite directions, and nothing has requoted the desk since.

The one dated event that can settle it is the October RAPI, due in early November, which will show whether September's small-stone lead held through the month or whether the softening flagged in the dealer comments has reached the index. With De Beers Sight 9 closed on October 30 without a public value, that print is the next real test on the board.