Flash News

TREE NEWS update: The US Treasury auctioned six-week bills at a high yield of 3.975%, with a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.74. The sale drew demand of 2.74 times the amount offered, the auction results showed.

TREE NEWS update: Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said on October 20 that a US Boeing P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine patrol aircraft has begun flying patrol missions over the Black Sea to conduct reconnaissance and detect activities that could pose a risk. He said several allies responded after he raised a request for assistance in talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

TREE NEWS reports: Germany’s DAX 30 index closed provisionally 0.09% lower at 25,296.59. France’s benchmark index fell 0.24% and Italy’s index slipped 0.06%, with the Italian bank index down 0.47%. The UK index closed provisionally 0.30% lower.

TREE NEWS update: US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said diesel prices could ease significantly if Europe agrees to a coordinated release of diesel reserves. The remark, made in comments reported without a specific date, links a potential supply move to relief in diesel costs.

TREE NEWS reports: WTI crude rose 81 cents a barrel in five minutes to $97.17 and Brent gained 86 cents to $107.93, after diplomats involved in Iran-US negotiations said the talks are still ongoing and reports that a deal is imminent are untrue. The move higher in oil came as the denial pushed back expectations of a near-term agreement between Washington and Tehran.

TREE NEWS update: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the U.S. Trade Representative’s office and the U.S. Commerce Department hold a “positive” attitude toward Mexico’s trade agreement. She gave no further details on the status of the deal or a timeline. The remarks concern the U.S.–Mexico trade framework.

TREE NEWS update: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a secret, undisclosed meeting at the Ovda air base in southern Israel a day earlier, Netanyahu’s spokesperson confirmed on the 20th. The two discussed Middle East security issues including Iran. The base hosts US fighter jets and refueling aircraft. The Israeli PM’s office, the US Defense Department and Israel’s embassy in Washington declined to comment.

TREE NEWS reports: The Colombian peso fell 1% against the U.S. dollar, with investors monitoring a decline in oil prices. The currency move reflects market attention on weaker crude prices, a key export for Colombia.

TREE NEWS reports: Centerbridge and Mubadala are in negotiations to acquire Canaccord Genuity’s UK wealth management business, people familiar with the matter said. Terms of the potential transaction were not disclosed. Canaccord’s UK wealth arm provides investment management and advisory services to private clients.

TREE NEWS update: The European Union released a new Arctic strategy on May 20, setting four priorities: strengthening security and resilience in the region, addressing climate change, promoting economic prosperity, and creating development opportunities for local residents. The European Commission said new shipping routes and emerging resources are changing the region’s security and economic landscape, with geopolitical tensions, strategic competition and military activity intensifying. In security, the EU plans to work with Arctic partners and complement NATO to protect critical infrastructure and improve emergency preparedness.

TREE NEWS update: The Saudi-led multinational coalition intercepted and destroyed a drone over the Riyadh region on October 20, coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said. The coalition also reported that it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis toward Riyadh the same day.

TREE NEWS update: North Korea’s KCNA published a commentary on the 20th condemning ongoing joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States and between Japan and the United States, saying the drills bring “new war clouds” to Northeast Asia including the Korean Peninsula. The commentary was carried by Xinhua.

TREE NEWS reports: Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski said the selloff in alternative asset manager stocks has been overdone and the shares are highly attractive given continued improvement in the sector’s fundamentals. The broker noted that while macro narratives have never truly been key to the fundamentals, they have repeatedly caused sharp swings, and rate hikes do not change the industry’s basic business conditions or investors’ willingness to allocate to future fundraising. Kotowski cited the 2015-2016 period, when the stocks fell 42% as oil prices dropped and high-yield spreads widened, saying the impact on business was slight and short-lived.

TREE NEWS reports: Fuel oil futures closed down 4.1% in the night session, leading declines across the energy and petrochemical complex. Low-sulfur fuel oil dropped 3.1%, LPG fell 2.9%, PTA lost 1.4% and iron ore slipped 0.3%.

TREE NEWS update: Liu Haixing, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met separately in Beijing with an Italian Five Star Movement delegation led by party vice-chair and Senate foreign affairs committee vice-chair Licheri, and a UAE First Echelon leadership talent delegation led by acting director of the Abu Dhabi Executive Office Al Qabi. The sides exchanged views on strengthening bilateral exchanges and cooperation and advancing state-to-state relations.

TREE NEWS update: The CF40 annual research report, titled “China’s New Economic Paradigm: Drivers, Trends and Policy Implications,” was released at the 2026 Bund Summit. It recommends using nominal GDP growth as an important short-term reference for macro policy, with the immediate priority being to push for reflation and move the economy away from low nominal growth. Over the medium and long term, the report calls for structural reforms to build a new growth mechanism suited to the post-property era.

TREE NEWS update: The 25th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states issued a joint communique in which delegation heads reaffirmed that member states adhere to the principle that the SCO does not target other countries or organizations, advocate peaceful settlement of disputes, remain open to the outside world, and conduct broad international cooperation on the basis of accommodating all parties’ interests.

TREE NEWS update: Canada’s federal industry minister, Mélanie Joly, said Tuesday that Ottawa could force Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. to sell its Ontario steel plant after the U.S. company planned to partially idle the facility. Ottawa says the plan breaches job commitments made when Cleveland-Cliffs acquired the Stelco plant, a claim the company denies. Joly said one option is “forced divestiture” and that all options, including an equity stake, remain on the table.

TREE NEWS update: Iran’s Fars News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said reports that Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei refused to meet Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir in Tehran are false. The denial followed media reports alleging Rezaei declined the meeting.

TREE NEWS update: The Trump administration announced $8 billion in aid to farmers to help offset rising fuel costs, which have become a heavy burden for growers during harvest season. The assistance is aimed at easing the impact of higher fuel expenses on agricultural producers.