Flash News

TREE NEWS update: Tesla lowered its annual capital expenditure target to $20 billion from a previous goal of more than $25 billion. The company disclosed the revised figure without giving a reason for the reduction or a timeline for the new spending level.

TREE NEWS reports: New Zealand’s consumer price index rose 0.7% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter, missing the 0.8% forecast and slowing sharply from 1.5% in the prior quarter. The softer-than-expected inflation reading points to easing price pressures in the New Zealand economy.

TREE NEWS reports: Citadel founder Ken Griffin said investors are “almost certainly” in an AI bubble, warning that a glut of chips could crash prices the way empty airline seats do. Griffin, whose firm Citadel is one of the world’s largest hedge funds, nonetheless expects the survivors of the shakeout to lead for decades.

TREE NEWS update: The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement on measures to revive and simplify the EU securitisation market. The deal, announced by the Council, aims to restart the bloc’s securitisation framework. No further details of the agreement were provided in the announcement.

TREE NEWS reports: On Wednesday, October 21, the Nasdaq 100 ETF closed up 1.05%, and the Barclays US Convertible Bond ETF gained 0.97%, leading US asset class ETFs. The Dow ETF and S&P 500 ETF each rose at least 0.53%, while emerging market, gold, Brent oil, Russell 2000, 20+ year Treasury, long-dollar and long-euro ETFs gained at most 0.39%. Long-yen and agricultural funds fell up to 0.18%, the soybean fund dropped 0.37%, and the US real estate ETF fell 0.86%.

TREE NEWS reports: The Bloomberg Electric Vehicle Price Return Index fell 1.08% on Wednesday, October 21, closing at 2,943.65. Among constituents, Hesai ADR dropped 5.72% and Pony.ai fell 4.55%, while Ola Electric Mobility Ltd. lost 4.18%, the third-largest decline. On the upside, MP Materials rose 1.15%, STMicroelectronics gained 2.46% in Milan, Tesla added 3.41% and Ambarella climbed 4.4%.

TREE NEWS reports: FTSE China A50 index futures closed the overnight session up 0.29% at 13,202 points. The move reflects overnight positioning in the Singapore-listed contract tracking the 50 largest A-share companies.

TREE NEWS reports: Iran said it would consider a range of US political targets, personnel and related infrastructure as legitimate targets if further attacks kill Iranian officials and civilians, the semi-official Fars news agency reported, citing an unnamed senior security official. The threat is conditional on new strikes causing such casualties.

TREE NEWS reports: US stock index futures ended higher in New York trading on Wednesday, October 21, with Nasdaq 100 futures up 1.17% and S&P 500 futures gaining 0.60%. Dow futures rose 0.73% and Russell 2000 futures added 0.24%.

TREE NEWS reports: The offshore yuan closed at 6.6748 per dollar in New York on Wednesday, unchanged from Tuesday’s close, after trading between 6.6796 and 6.6732 during the session. The CNH hit its daily low at 10:30 Beijing time before reversing to approach the June 28, 2022 intraday high of 6.6686, with the June 3, 2022 top at 6.6170 and the April 28, 2022 top at 6.5863 also in view.

TREE NEWS update: A fire and suspected explosion broke out at Iran Aluminium Company’s (IRALCO) No. 6 plant in Arak, with reports attributing the cause to a boiler rupture on the production line. The governor of Arak denied that an explosion, security incident or sabotage had occurred, describing the event as a technical failure of the electrical system.

TREE NEWS reports: Spot gold rose 0.38% to $4,140.82 an ounce in late New York trade on Wednesday, October 21, staging a V-shaped reversal after touching a session low of $4,105.10 at 03:03 Beijing time. Spot silver edged up 0.07% to $57.9753 an ounce, having also hit a session low of $56.9423 at 03:03. COMEX copper futures fell 0.41% to $6.5765 a pound.

TREE NEWS reports: The US military has been quietly scaling back troop levels at bases across the Middle East in recent days. The drawdown comes amid heightened regional tensions, though no further details on the scope or timing of the reductions were provided.

TREE NEWS reports: Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg is considering leaving California if the state passes a proposed 5% billionaire tax. The measure would levy the tax on the state’s wealthiest residents. No further details on the proposal’s legislative status or Zuckerberg’s specific plans were provided.

TREE NEWS update: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 21 that Russia has agreed to a new round of US-Ukraine-Russia trilateral negotiations, and that Ukraine supports Washington’s proposal to launch the talks as soon as possible, with the aim of holding a meeting in early November or sooner. Zelensky said Ukraine backs peace initiatives including a full ceasefire, a halt to strikes on energy infrastructure, humanitarian operations and prisoner exchanges, while remaining cautious about the prospects of the talks.

TREE NEWS update: The Trump administration is waiving tax reporting and recordkeeping requirements to encourage companies to buy tax-exempt red-dyed diesel. The IRS said it will not pursue temporary noncompliance related to returns, reports or recordkeeping for taxable uses of dyed diesel between October 1, 2026, and January 1, 2027. The relief is intended to attract buyers of the fuel.

TREE NEWS update: Saudi air defenses intercepted a drone attempting to attack a facility at the Shaybah oil field in Eastern Province on the morning of April 21, the Energy Ministry said. Falling debris set a vehicle outside the plant on fire, killing two people — from the Philippines and Nepal — and injuring two others from Pakistan and India. Production and operations at the Saudi Aramco-owned field were unaffected.

TREE NEWS update: President Donald Trump said the United States will continue its strikes on Iran. The remark signals ongoing military action against Iran with no announced end. No further details, including targets or timeline, were provided in the statement.

TREE NEWS reports: The S&P 500 rose 0.6% in preliminary closing data, with the technology sector up 1.6% and energy up 0.3%, while real estate fell 0.8% and telecom dropped 1.2%. The Nasdaq 100 gained 1.1%, led by SpaceX and Strategy, each up 7.7%, Datadog up 6.5%, and CrowdStrike, Palantir, Constellation Energy and Western Digital each up at least about 4.7%. Nvidia rose 2.5%, while Netflix fell 5% and Dexcom dropped 6.3%.

TREE NEWS reports: The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed down 2.3% in preliminary trading, with Chinese ADRs broadly lower. XPeng fell 5.6%, Hesai lost 5.5%, Pony.ai dropped 4.2%, Alibaba slid 3.9%, and JD.com and Li Auto each fell 3.6%. Among ETFs, KWEB declined 2.6% and CQQQ slipped 1.1%.