Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: Oil prices reversed early gains on Tuesday, with Brent crude turning negative and WTI crude closing in on a flat line after spiking higher. The intraday pullback left both benchmarks near their prior levels, erasing the session’s earlier advance. No specific catalyst for the move was given in the material.

TREE NEWS update: China’s capital unveiled the Implementation Plan for Financial Support for Building the Beijing (Jing-Jin-Ji) International Science and Technology Innovation Center at the 2026 Financial Street Forum in Beijing. The plan comprises 15 measures across six areas, aimed at building a Jing-Jin-Ji science and technology finance coordination hub and supporting high-level scientific and technological self-reliance.

TREE NEWS update: China’s State Administration for Market Regulation Director Liu Guiping met with Anthony Whelan, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition, on October 21. The two sides exchanged views on the latest developments in antitrust legislation and enforcement in China and the EU and on China-EU antitrust cooperation, pledging to deepen cooperation on competition policy and antitrust enforcement and jointly safeguard fair competition in international markets. On the same day, SAMR Deputy Director Shu Wei held the 2026 China-EU Competition Policy Dialogue and a dialogue on fair competition review and state aid control with Whelan.

TREE NEWS reports: JPMorgan has forecast that Bitcoin will outperform all asset classes, including real estate, stocks and gold, over the next 10-15 years. The bank’s projection places Bitcoin ahead of traditional assets in its long-term forecast.

TREE NEWS update: US President Donald Trump said the approval of the Jackdaw project is major good news for the United Kingdom, adding that the UK should fully push ahead with North Sea drilling. The statement endorses the oil and gas development as London weighs its North Sea energy policy.

TREE NEWS reports: The Baltic Dry Index climbed 3.36% to 2,680 points. The index tracks freight rates for dry bulk carriers on major global shipping routes. No further details were immediately available.

TREE NEWS update: Iraq closed its Shib border crossing with Iran in the southern Maysan province starting at 6 a.m. local time on the 21st, a security source said, with the closure remaining in effect until further notice. The source did not disclose the reason for the shutdown. The crossing links Maysan province to Iran.

TREE NEWS reports: Bitcoin volatility is approaching its 2026 lows, with K33 attributing the calm to weak trading activity ahead of several potential market catalysts. Traders are bracing for the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy decision and the US midterm elections, both of which could inject fresh volatility into crypto markets.

TREE NEWS update: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview on October 21 that Ukraine could accept a peace agreement based on retaining at least 75% of its territory. Asked whether he would accept a deal freezing the current situation with Ukraine keeping 75% or more of its land, Zelensky answered in the affirmative, saying “now we must freeze (the front line); this is a practical way to end this war.”

TREE NEWS update: Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun said the company plans to invest more than RMB 200 billion in hardcore technology R&D over the next five years, after spending RMB 105.5 billion in the past five years. Speaking at the 2026 World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference, Lei said Xiaomi’s consumer IoT platform has surpassed 1.1 billion connected devices as of the end of the second quarter, with research focused on chips, operating systems and embodied AI.

TREE NEWS update: China’s State Administration for Market Regulation held a special symposium on improving the quality of platform products and services, calling on platforms to fulfill their “gatekeeper” responsibilities under the 2026 task list. The regulator urged platforms to leverage big data to upgrade upstream industrial quality, protect consumer rights, and explore publishing a platform quality governance index report to guide high-quality consumption.

TREE NEWS reports: US mortgage applications fell 5.3% week-over-week in the week ended October 16, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly applications activity index. The prior week’s reading showed a 2.7% decline. The latest figure extends the pullback in mortgage demand.

TREE NEWS update: NetsUnion Clearing Corporation’s platform processed 4.64 billion payment transactions on Oct. 20, a single-day record for the network, the company said. The clearing house said the volume was handled smoothly as it safeguards the consumption payment peak during the “Double 11” shopping period.

TREE NEWS update: Russian President Vladimir Putin will carefully study new proposals and suggestions on resolving the Ukraine crisis brought by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on May 21. Peskov said President Donald Trump and his negotiating team are actively pushing for a peaceful settlement and that important progress in the talks is possible. Russia will decide its next steps based on the situation, he added.

TREE NEWS reports: The 14 Chinese wealth management firms each managing over 1 trillion yuan saw their outstanding assets fall to about 27.002 trillion yuan at end-September, a month-on-month outflow of roughly 385 billion yuan, after record highs in July and August. The group, comprising six state-owned bank and eight joint-stock bank wealth management units, accounts for about 76% of the market, and the first 3-trillion-yuan wealth manager is expected to emerge.

TREE NEWS update: Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, met in Beijing on the 21st with foreign guests attending the 2026 International Science Council Mid-Term Membership Meeting and the Beijing Science Dialogue. The meeting was held in the Chinese capital. No further details of the discussions were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: The European Commission on Tuesday called on SpaceX to urgently restore all services in Ukraine, saying the disruption must be reversed without delay. The Commission did not specify which services were affected or give a timeline for restoration. SpaceX has not publicly responded to the request.

TREE NEWS update: China’s basic medical insurance pooled funds, including maternity insurance, took in 2.302833 trillion yuan and spent 1.751519 trillion yuan in the first nine months of 2026, the National Healthcare Security Administration said on October 21. The figures cover January through September and were released as part of the agency’s regular data disclosure.

TREE NEWS reports: Former Fed economist Claudia Sahm, who created the Sahm Rule, said the Federal Reserve should not wait and that an October rate hike is the safer “insurance,” even as market-implied odds of a hike fell to 17% from 70% three weeks ago. Sahm pointed to August PCE inflation at 3.4%, September core CPI running at roughly a 4% annualized rate, and transport and warehousing prices at their highest since 2022. She warned the Fed’s real risk is waiting until inflation spirals and then being forced to brake hard.

TREE NEWS update: China’s National Financial Regulatory Administration held its 2026 International Advisory Committee meeting in Beijing on Oct. 19-20. Vice Premier He Lifeng met committee members that evening and said China is fully implementing its 15th Five-Year Plan and will keep expanding high-level financial opening, welcoming more foreign financial institutions to invest and deepen cooperation in China.