Flash News

TREE NEWS update: At least 306 people were killed and hundreds wounded in drone strikes across Sudan during the first three weeks of October, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement on Oct. 23. The strikes hit Khartoum, Blue Nile state, the Kordofan region and Darfur, targeting homes, markets, hospitals, displacement camps, power stations and water sources.

TREE NEWS reports: The spread between Italian and German 10-year government bond yields narrowed by 6 basis points to 169 basis points. The move reflects a compression in the risk premium investors demand to hold Italian debt over German bunds.

TREE NEWS reports: South African equities dropped 1% on the day, with the benchmark index closing lower. No further details on the drivers or individual sector moves were immediately available.

TREE NEWS update: A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck Zadoi County in Yushu Prefecture, Qinghai, at 22:14 on October 23. The epicenter was located at 32.50 degrees north latitude and 93.95 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 10 kilometers. No further details were immediately available.

TREE NEWS reports: Joanne Hsu, director of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey, said short- and long-term inflation expectations have both risen in recent months after five years of above-target inflation, exposing the risk that elevated expectations become entrenched. Consumers, regardless of political affiliation, see inflation as the biggest risk to the economy over the next year, far ahead of unemployment.

TREE NEWS update: France’s interior minister said on Oct. 23 that the shooting earlier that day in Trappes, in the Yvelines department near Paris, was ‘clearly a terrorist crime.’ A man opened fire from inside a car onto a public road, killing at least one person and wounding four, several of them seriously.

TREE NEWS update: Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry intends to establish a disposal site for high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants in Kushima City, Miyazaki Prefecture, in southwestern Japan. The facility would handle high-level nuclear waste generated by nuclear power plants.

TREE NEWS update: The International Atomic Energy Agency said on October 23 that a damaged key power facility near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been repaired under a locally brokered Russia-Ukraine ceasefire, reducing the risk of another external power outage at the plant. The IAEA coordinated the ceasefire to allow the repair work.

TREE NEWS update: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said speed-limiting issues with Starlink and Starshield remain unresolved. He did not specify which limits persist or what impact they are having. Starshield is the military-focused satellite service operated by SpaceX.

TREE NEWS update: China’s State Post Bureau held a symposium on safety governance in the postal and express delivery industry, calling for deeper efforts to advance its ‘anti-involution’ campaign. The bureau said it would step up rectification of major production safety hazards, tighten fire safety and outsourcing management, and improve corporate safety systems. It also flagged stronger risk controls in delivery channels, including anti-fraud work and information security.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Housing and Urban-Rural Development Minister Ni Hong called for coordinated planning of urban underground pipe network construction and renovation during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, following an October 22-23 inspection in Shijiazhuang, Hebei. Ni said the networks are a key part of the “six networks” and an important support for expanding domestic demand, urging efforts to broaden funding channels, improve project reserves, strengthen quality and safety oversight, and build a long-term mechanism balancing construction and management.

TREE NEWS update: China’s National Energy Administration held a mobilization meeting to launch a new round of safety and quality improvement actions for the nuclear power industry. The plan calls for moving oversight earlier, accelerating standardized reactor design and modular construction, and advancing smart construction sites to upgrade engineering quality. It also targets safety in commissioning new reactor models, fuel assembly reliability and operating service systems, plus integrated control of non-nuclear risks.

TREE NEWS update: The 29th Beijing-Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium will be held in Beijing on Nov. 3-4 under the theme “Sailing on the 15th Five-Year Plan, Beijing and Hong Kong Building the Future Together,” the Beijing municipal government said at a press conference on Oct. 23. The event, founded in 1997 when Hong Kong returned to China, will feature an opening ceremony, a keynote promotion session, a “Beijing-Hong Kong Night” event, 14 thematic sessions and investment consultation talks throughout.

TREE NEWS reports: The styrene (EB) main futures contract hit its daily limit-up on the Chinese futures market, rising 6%. The move marks a sharp single-session gain for the petrochemical futures contract. No further details on the cause or trading volume were provided.

TREE NEWS update: Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig said the agency is reviewing March oil trading activity that took place during the Iran war. Selig said the CFTC’s enforcement division has been investigating trading activity since March and that the agency regulates oil trading markets very seriously.

TREE NEWS reports: The secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) rose to 3.90% on Oct. 22 from 3.88% the prior day. The effective federal funds rate held at 3.88% for the same trading day, unchanged from the previous session. The two benchmarks now sit at a 2-basis-point spread.

TREE NEWS update: MMG has proposed guaranteeing nickel pig iron supply to European stainless steel producers to address EU antitrust concerns over its acquisition of Anglo American’s Brazilian nickel business. Anglo American said the remedy would provide supply security for European stainless steel producers if the European Commission approves the deal. Anglo American has previously warned it would close the Brazilian mines if the transaction is blocked.

TREE NEWS update: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the opening of the 2026 Global Governance Forum in Xiong’an that China will take further practical action to implement its global governance initiative. He noted this year marks the 55th anniversary of the restoration of the People’s Republic of China’s lawful seat at the United Nations, and said China, as a founding UN member and permanent Security Council member, will work with other countries toward a more just and equitable global governance system.

TREE NEWS update: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the opening of the 2026 Global Governance Forum in Xiong’an that protectionism is like “carrying firewood to put out a fire,” and that only open cooperation can create a shared future. He called for unwavering support for the WTO-centered multilateral trading system and a fairer, more open economic and trade order, urging countries to keep development at the center of the international agenda.

TREE NEWS reports: US consumers expect prices to rise 4.7% over the next year, up from 4.6% last month, and expect costs to climb 3.5% annually over the next five to 10 years. Both readings are the highest since May. Nearly 70% of consumers expect interest rates to rise over the next year, the highest in more than three years.