The central bank lifted its policy rate sharply as the country reels from war-fuelled price rises and faces further risk from an approaching 'super' El Nino.

Initial filings for US unemployment insurance slipped to a seasonally adjusted 194,000, among the lowest readings since the 1960s. The data points to a continuing trend of low layoffs across the American labor market.

New Zealand's annual inflation rate tumbled to 3.7 percent. The slowdown has raised the odds that the Reserve Bank will lift its benchmark interest rate at next week's policy meeting, even as price pressures are forecast to pick up again soon.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, posted a $30 billion loss in the third quarter after a bond market slump hit its holdings. Norges Bank Investment Management, which runs the roughly $2.3 trillion fund, said returns on its bond portfolio turned negative as yields rose.