Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: Citigroup said Indonesia must keep strengthening market enforcement to avoid a downgrade by MSCI. The warning comes as the index provider reviews the country’s market accessibility and regulatory standards. A downgrade could affect index-tracked capital flows into Indonesian equities.

TREE NEWS update: UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband issued a statement on 19 May warning companies and individuals not to take part in tenders for construction projects in Israel’s E1 settlement in the occupied West Bank. The statement named the E1 area specifically and cautioned against participation in the bidding process.

TREE NEWS update: France’s Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said 2,513 people have been detained by police nationwide since violence broke out during demonstrations at the start of the weekend, with proceedings still ongoing for many of them. Sixty-seven people have been jailed, Darmanin said on October 19.

TREE NEWS update: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Petrova in Sofia on May 19. Wang said China-Bulgaria relations face important opportunities and the visit is well-timed, with both sides reaching broad consensus on planning high-level exchanges and advancing practical cooperation. He expressed hope Bulgaria will continue to uphold the one-China principle and support China’s position on safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity.

TREE NEWS reports: BHP reported first-quarter attributable iron ore production of 66.45 million tonnes, with Western Australia iron ore output at 71.91 million tonnes and shipments of 73.95 million tonnes. Copper production for the quarter came in at 400,700 tonnes. The miner kept its full-year guidance unchanged: attributable iron ore at 260-272 million tonnes, WA iron ore at 286-298 million tonnes and copper at 1.65-1.80 million tonnes.

TREE NEWS reports: At the Monday (Oct. 19) New York close, S&P 500 futures finished up 0.5%, Dow futures gained 0.02% and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.22%. Russell 2000 futures added 0.37%.

TREE NEWS update: Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said on the 20th that 122 vessels have been placed on a violations list for Persian Gulf shipping lane management. More than 40 vessels have been ordered to rectify their violations, 19 are in talks with relevant authorities to avoid being listed or to be removed, two have agreed to fulfill their obligations and been removed, and about 30 will be listed if they do not respond to warnings. The authority said it would consider helping vessels removed if they correct violations on their own initiative.

TREE NEWS reports: Spot gold fell 0.60% to $4,140.57 an ounce at the New York close on Monday, Oct. 19, after trading near $4,180 in Asian hours and hitting an intraday high at 15:33 Beijing time before sliding. Spot silver rose 0.15% to $57.0762 an ounce, having touched $57.8542 at 14:03. COMEX copper gained 0.14% to $6.5830 a pound, while the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index closed down 0.99%.

TREE NEWS update: Cuba’s new oil and gas regulations took effect on October 19, expanding participation by domestic private companies and foreign investors in the sector. The rules, Decree-Law 135 on Oil and Gas and its implementing Decree 184, were published in the Official Gazette on October 12. They allow qualified Cuban and foreign entities and individuals to take part in exploration, extraction, refining, transport, storage and sales, subject to licensing, while underground reserves remain public property and the state retains priority purchase rights.

TREE NEWS reports: MSCI’s emerging markets stock index fell 0.2%, while the developing-nation foreign exchange index slipped 0.1%. The moves reflect a modest pullback across emerging-market equities and currencies.

TREE NEWS update: Bulgarian Prime Minister Radev met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Sofia on the 19th. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, held the meeting with Radev during his visit to the Bulgarian capital. No further details of the talks were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: Tradeweb will acquire Trumid for approximately $1.97 billion, the company announced. The deal values the electronic trading platform at about $1.97 billion. No further terms were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the evening of Oct. 19 that U.S. decisions on the Russia-Ukraine war, including delays in weapons shipments and restrictions on intelligence sharing, are “hard to explain.” He made the remarks during a meeting with a U.S. congressional delegation. The statement highlights growing friction between Kyiv and Washington over military support.

TREE NEWS reports: The Magnificent 7 index rose 1.26% to 234.71 points on Monday, October 19, holding near session highs after a sharp early climb. Amazon closed up 4.98% and Tesla gained 3.76%, while Apple slipped 0.15%. The broader mega-cap tech index advanced 1.44% to 460.34 points.

TREE NEWS reports: The utilities sector of the S&P 500 closed down 1.97% on the day, with the real estate ETF falling 1.17%, while the information technology sector gained 1.19% and telecommunications rose 0.28%. Consumer discretionary was the top performer, climbing 2.73%, led by Amazon and Tesla.

TREE NEWS update: US President Donald Trump said at the White House that someone other than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should represent Ukraine in negotiations to end the war with Russia. “Maybe it’s time for Zelensky to find someone else to negotiate,” Trump said, after previously calling on October 10 for Ukraine to change its president. Trump said the US has given Ukraine a lot but received nothing in return, adding that intelligence sharing continues and that he would consider allowing Ukrainians to stay in the US under Temporary Protected Status until the war ends.

TREE NEWS update: Brazil’s agriculture ministry confirmed a case of Newcastle disease at a turkey farm in Santa Catarina state, Agriculture Minister André de Paula said Monday, raising concern over poultry shipments from the world’s largest chicken exporter. Officials said sanitary measures are in place and about 133 farms in the region may be affected, with all information to be shared with major trading partners. Citi analysts said Santa Catarina accounts for roughly 15% of Brazil’s poultry output.

TREE NEWS reports: On Monday, October 19, most major US asset-class ETFs declined, with the iShares US Real Estate ETF falling 1.14% and the 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF dropping 0.74%. The Nasdaq 100 ETF rose 1.21%, the S&P 500 ETF gained 0.42%, and the emerging markets ETF added 0.73%, while the US Dollar Index bullish fund climbed 0.28%.

TREE NEWS reports: The Bloomberg Electric Vehicle Price Return Index rose 0.74% to 2996.34 on Monday, October 19, trading in a narrow high range during the session after a notable gain in early Asia-Pacific trading. Among components, ITM Energy’s London shares fell 6.69%, Umicore dropped 5.31% and Volvo Car Group lost 3.03%, while Pony.ai ADRs, WeRide ADRs, Tesla and Hesai ADRs led gains.

TREE NEWS reports: The S&P 500 closed up 0.4% in preliminary figures, with consumer discretionary up 2.7% and technology up 1.3%, while real estate fell 1.1% and utilities dropped 1.8%. The Nasdaq 100 gained 0.8%, led by Western Digital up 5.9%, SanDisk up 5.5%, Datadog up 5.3% and Amazon up 5.1%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 1.8% and the memory-chip index gained about 2%.