Flash News

TREE NEWS update: US President Donald Trump traveled to Kansas on October 19 for a campaign event and plans to visit Iowa later this week to support Republican candidates ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. The visits to traditionally Republican-leaning agricultural states signal the party’s focus on turnout in these areas as the elections approach.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange reported that cross-border capital flows from non-bank sectors, including companies and individuals, recorded a net inflow of $40.7 billion in September, down 35% from the previous month. SAFE deputy administrator and spokesperson Li Bin said the FX market has operated steadily overall, even as rate hikes by central banks in Europe, the US and Japan triggered volatility in some economies’ currency and bond markets.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s banks settled 1.9897 trillion yuan of foreign exchange in September 2026 and sold 1.6098 trillion yuan, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said. For January-September, cumulative settlement reached 16.3007 trillion yuan and cumulative sales 13.5947 trillion yuan.

TREE NEWS reports: Indonesian stocks rose 5% after the government took steps to address the risk of an MSCI downgrade. The move follows concerns that index provider MSCI could lower Indonesia’s market classification, prompting authorities to act. No further details on the specific measures were given.

TREE NEWS update: Iran said Egypt’s involvement in the Saudi-Houthi conflict is aggravating the situation. The comment frames Egypt’s role as a factor escalating tensions in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. No further details or specific actions were provided.

TREE NEWS update: Air raid sirens sounded in Riyadh on the morning of the 20th local time, followed by loud explosions. No further details on casualties, damage or the cause of the blasts were immediately available. The incident marks a rare security alert in the Saudi capital.

TREE NEWS update: China and South Korea held the 17th round of phase-two negotiations on their bilateral free trade agreement in Seoul from October 12 to 16. The two sides conducted comprehensive and in-depth consultations on market access under a negative list for cross-border services trade and investment, and reported positive progress. They agreed to accelerate the talks and aim to conclude them as early as possible to further open up services and investment.

TREE NEWS update: Former People’s Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Oct. 20 that massive capital flows into artificial intelligence and related infrastructure could trigger financial turmoil and even a crisis if a portion of those investments fail. Speaking at the 2026 Bund Summit roundtable on AI and productivity, Zhou called for research and contingency plans, including policy tools to support the economy and rescue some financial institutions.

TREE NEWS reports: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed 1.32% lower and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 1.52% on the session. Among the biggest decliners, Manycore Tech dropped about 25%, Lenovo Group about 10%, Zijin Gold International about 9%, GDS about 7% and CATL about 7%.

TREE NEWS update: Russian technical experts are gradually returning to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant project in the south of the country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran. Lavrov said Moscow has no intention of abandoning its economic and investment agreements with Iran, adding that bilateral trade is growing fast and that the two sides see broad prospects for cooperation in oil and gas extraction and transportation.

TREE NEWS update: Former People’s Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Oct. 20 that with huge sums flowing into AI and related infrastructure, some of those investments will fail and could trigger financial turmoil or a crisis. Speaking at the 2026 Bund Summit, he called for research and contingency plans, including policy tools to support the economy and bail out some financial institutions.

TREE NEWS reports: South Korea expects public-sector bond issuance of 59 trillion won in the fourth quarter, down from 65 trillion won in the third quarter. Demand for commercial bank bond sales is also expected to weaken in the period, the same source said.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will systematically upgrade national advanced manufacturing clusters through tiered, category-based measures, the ministry said at a State Council Information Office briefing on October 20 covering the first three quarters of 2026. Clusters with strong international competitive advantages will focus on boosting innovation resources, innovation-origination capacity and global resource-allocation capability to accelerate their advance toward world-class status. Fast-growing clusters will focus on shoring up weaknesses, strengthening strengths, reinforcing key entities and improving the ecosystem.

TREE NEWS update: The United Arab Emirates and France unveiled a strategic defense partnership framework. The two countries announced the arrangement without disclosing further terms or a signing date. The framework covers bilateral defense cooperation between Paris and Abu Dhabi.

TREE NEWS update: South Korea will reduce its government bond issuance if necessary, the finance ministry said. The plan, reported by Bloomberg, signals a possible scaling back of sovereign debt sales. No specific timetable or issuance volume was given.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s one-year interest rate swap dropped to its lowest level since 2009. The decline in the swap rate, a key gauge of market expectations for short-term funding costs, marks the weakest reading in more than 15 years.

TREE NEWS reports: The London Metal Exchange reported a 3,925-tonne drop in lead inventories, alongside a 25-tonne decline in tin and a 150-tonne fall in aluminium. Nickel stocks rose 756 tonnes and copper added 1,625 tonnes, while zinc inventories increased by 3,275 tonnes.

TREE NEWS reports: The eurozone’s seasonally adjusted current account surplus narrowed to €8.709 billion in August, down from €27.6 billion in the prior month. The August reading marks a sharp month-on-month contraction in the bloc’s external balance.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will keep improving its capacity monitoring and early-warning mechanism for solar and new-type energy storage, MIIT spokesperson Tao Qing said at a State Council Information Office briefing on Oct. 20. The ministry will also step up construction of next-generation communications and computing-power networks and deploy a batch of landmark engineering projects as part of efforts to hit annual growth targets for key industrial sectors.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will accelerate the drafting and issuance of a notice and speed up the revision of relevant standards to keep unreasonably designed or insufficiently tested vehicle products out of the market. The ministry said it will strengthen production consistency supervision and inspections of testing institutions, using pre-market access and post-market oversight to safeguard automotive safety and consumer rights.