Flash News

TREE NEWS update: China’s banking sector provided more than 20 trillion yuan in new financing support to the real economy in the first three quarters of the year, while insurance payouts reached nearly 2 trillion yuan, said Ding Xiangqun, head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, at the opening of the 2026 Financial Street Forum annual meeting on October 19. Ding said banks’ role as the main financing channel and insurance’s protective function were brought into full play.

TREE NEWS update: China’s National Financial Regulatory Administration will bring all financial activities under supervision, director Ding Xiangqun said at the opening of the 2026 Financial Street Forum in Beijing on Friday. He said banking and insurance sectors are running stably, with risks generally under control. The regulator is tightening oversight of cross-regional, cross-departmental and new-format financial activities to achieve full coverage with no exceptions.

TREE NEWS update: People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng said the central bank’s overnight reverse repurchase rate will become its main policy rate. The shift makes the short-term open-market rate the primary tool for signaling the monetary policy stance, replacing the current framework’s emphasis on longer-tenor operations.

TREE NEWS update: Shandong province issued 10 tranches of local government special bonds, including a 30-year 5.451 billion yuan tranche at a 2.21% coupon that drew a marginal bid ratio of 931.46 times against an expected 2.18. The 15-year general special bond priced at 2.01% with a 1.22x marginal ratio, while the 7-year other special bond raised 988 million yuan at 1.52% with a 1.87x ratio. A 10-year rail transit special bond of 705 million yuan priced at 1.69%.

TREE NEWS update: People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng said the central bank has clarified the policy rate status of its 7-day reverse repo rate and added overnight operations, making the market-based interest rate control mechanism clearer. Speaking at the opening of the 2026 Financial Street Forum, Pan said the PBOC has also bought and sold government bonds in open market operations, further enriching its monetary policy toolkit. The central bank is strengthening rate policy enforcement and coordination with fiscal and industrial policies.

TREE NEWS update: Saudi Arabia will make a final decision on the Future Investment Initiative (FII) as soon as Monday, the conference’s organizers said. The FII is the kingdom’s flagship global investment gathering. No further details on the scope of the decision were provided.

TREE NEWS reports: M&G Plc, Ninety One Plc, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd and Raymond James Wealth Management have bought UK gilts ahead of Chancellor John Healey’s first budget on October 28, betting he will maintain fiscal discipline on spending and borrowing. The investors expect gilt yields could fall if Healey demonstrates prudence, pushing gilt prices higher.

TREE NEWS update: People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng said the central bank will accelerate building a technology-finance service system aligned with the core functions and international positioning of international science and technology innovation centers. Speaking at the opening of the 2026 Financial Street Forum, he said the PBOC, with the Ministry of Science and Technology and nine other departments, issued guidance on financial support for building such centers in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Shanghai-Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The PBOC will expand relending, the bond market’s “tech board” and cross-border investment and financing policies in these regions.

TREE NEWS update: People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng said the central bank will pilot allowing eight Chinese and foreign RMB offshore clearing banks to conduct proprietary trading in the onshore interbank foreign exchange market, making it easier for overseas institutions to participate. Speaking at the opening of the 2026 Financial Street Forum, Pan said the move follows international market practice and trading conventions and aims to promote integration of onshore and offshore markets. The PBOC will expand FX market opening further based on pilot results.

TREE NEWS reports: The Nasdaq Composite fell about 4.5% for the week ended Oct. 16 to close at 26,140.03, its worst week since June, while the Dow rose about 0.7% to 52,002.41 and the S&P 500 dropped about 1.9% to 7,659.44, with pressure concentrated in tech and small caps. September CPI rose 3.7% year over year, up from 3.4% in August, adding to rate concerns. Meta and Tesla report Oct. 21, with Netflix on Oct. 20.

TREE NEWS update: South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said corporate governance in the country requires continuous improvement and that the stock market is undervalued, while noting the government has limited ability to intervene in equities. He also said a pullback after a sharp rally is unavoidable, and called for the early restoration of wartime operational control.

TREE NEWS reports: CoreWeave’s 9.75% 2031 bonds briefly yielded 15.70%, with the spread over Treasuries widening to a peak of 1,071 basis points from 472, Goldman Sachs strategist David Curtin noted. The company’s five-year credit default swaps closed at a record 1,117 basis points, implying about a 63% probability of default within five years. France’s 30-year yield rose roughly 130 basis points at its peak since the Iran war began, with the OAT-Bund spread touching 142 basis points.

TREE NEWS reports: The onshore yuan closed at 6.6817 per dollar at the 16:30 Beijing time official close, up 51 pips from the previous session’s official close and 53 pips from the prior overnight close. The move marks a firmer session for the Chinese currency against the dollar.

TREE NEWS update: People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng said the central bank will roll out a liquidity support tool for large redemptions by non-bank institutions, working with the National Financial Regulatory Administration and the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Pan announced the plan at the opening of the 2026 Financial Street Forum. The tool is aimed at non-bank institutions facing large-scale redemptions.

TREE NEWS reports: Global optical fiber supply will fall short of demand by 180 million core-kilometers in 2026, TrendForce estimates, as AI data centers, cross-datacenter interconnects and high-capacity backbone buildouts drive demand. The shortfall is expected to lift spot prices for finished fiber by 2.8 to 5 times year-on-year, prompting telecom vendors to shift from short-term purchases to long-term contracts to lock in supply. TrendForce said global fiber supply has been tight since late 2025 and the strain will likely last until at least 2028.

TREE NEWS update: Qatar’s Minister of State for Defense Affairs Saud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said at the Global Security Forum in Doha on October 19 that Qatar will soon announce the establishment of a domestic defense production center to advance localization of its defense industry. He said Qatar is working with regional partners and partners in the United States, the United Kingdom and France to build local defense production capacity or to invest in relevant companies.

TREE NEWS reports: French sovereign bonds fell after violent incidents across the country highlighted tensions between protesters and a government constrained by weak public finances. The spread between French and German 10-year yields widened 8 basis points to 146 basis points, the highest in two weeks, while the premium over Italian debt also hit a new high. The euro weakened and the CAC 40 fell 1.2%.

TREE NEWS reports: The London Metal Exchange reported zinc inventories rose 4,775 tons, copper stocks increased 6,750 tons and nickel gained 120 tons. Lead stocks fell 1,150 tons, aluminum declined 1,500 tons and tin dropped 50 tons.

TREE NEWS update: Smart glasses sales on major Chinese platforms rose 1.1 times, or 110%, in the first nine months of the year, Assistant Minister of Commerce Yuan Xiaoming said at a State Council Information Office press conference on Oct. 19. The figure comes from the ministry’s commerce big-data monitoring of key platforms. No absolute sales value was disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: Datagroup said on 19 May that a Russian ballistic missile strike destroyed its data center in Kyiv, disabling all equipment and infrastructure. The facility cannot be repaired or returned to operation, the Ukrainian company said, adding that no employees were injured. Datagroup said it will continue serving customers through backup sites.