Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: The China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) said its RMB exchange rate index rose 0.09 to 103.70 on Oct 16. The index tracks the yuan against a basket of trading-partner currencies. No further details were provided.

TREE NEWS update: Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the central bank will closely monitor market movements in long-term interest rates. He declined to specify what conditions would constitute “abnormal” fluctuations in Japanese government bond yields, leaving the BOJ’s threshold for intervention undefined.

TREE NEWS update: Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said he expects AI-related demand to trigger demand-pull price increases. Ueda’s remark points to the central bank watching AI-driven demand as a potential source of inflationary pressure. No further details or policy implications were provided in the material.

TREE NEWS reports: South Korea’s KOSPI index narrowed its intraday decline to less than 1% on Thursday, recovering from a steeper drop earlier in the session. The benchmark index had fallen further before paring losses, though the material did not specify the exact level or the drivers behind the move. The index remains in negative territory for the day.

TREE NEWS reports: Japan’s Nikkei 225 index extended its intraday decline to 2%. The benchmark’s slide deepened during the session, with the index down 2% from the prior close. No further details were immediately available.

TREE NEWS update: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Japan is no longer in a state of deflation, crediting the effects of Abenomics. The remark, reported on Monday, marks the premier’s assessment that the country has exited a prolonged period of falling prices. Takaichi did not provide further details in the statement.

TREE NEWS update: Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the country’s underlying inflation rate is now very close to 2%, noting that a virtuous cycle of wages and prices rising in tandem has been restored. He said it is crucial for core inflation to hold stably around 2% and that wage gains are continuing to pass through to goods and services prices. Ueda also said drawing a clear line between demand-pull and cost-push inflation is difficult.

TREE NEWS reports: Japan’s Nikkei 225 opened 0.9% lower and South Korea’s Kospi opened down 3.2%, with chipmakers leading the declines. SK Hynix fell 4% and Samsung Electronics dropped 3% at the open.

TREE NEWS update: China is set to issue or is currently issuing government bonds and policy financial bonds. The notice lists the sovereign and policy-bank debt but does not specify amounts, maturities or pricing. No further details were provided.

TREE NEWS update: Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor Kent said the labor market is slowing faster than the central bank had expected. The remark points to softer conditions in Australian employment than policymakers had anticipated, a signal that bears on the RBA’s rate outlook. Kent did not give a figure or a revised forecast in the statement.

TREE NEWS reports: Huatai Securities said diesel prices are likely to remain elevated, which is expected to continue to moderately push up US inflation. The brokerage cited the unresolved US-Iran conflict, difficulty in meaningfully improving global refining capacity, and a global diesel supply-demand gap that will be hard to ease in the near term.

TREE NEWS reports: Thermal coal prices have climbed back above 1,000 yuan a ton for the first time in three years, driven by winter stockpiling demand and tight supply. Eight in ten listed thermal coal miners reported year-on-year earnings improvement in the first half, and further price gains in the third quarter are expected to keep lifting profits, said Yuan Huaming, general manager of Guangdong Huahui Chuangfu Investment Management.

TREE NEWS update: The Gulf Cooperation Council’s Ministerial Council strongly condemned recent attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement on Saudi Arabia at its 168th session in Manama, Bahrain, on December 18. In a communique issued the same day, the council stressed that the security of member states is indivisible under the GCC’s Joint Defense Agreement.

TREE NEWS update: The People’s Bank of China faces 276 billion yuan ($38 billion) of reverse repurchase agreements maturing this week, with 50 billion yuan due Monday, 65 billion Tuesday, 56 billion Wednesday, 45 billion Thursday and 60 billion Friday. A separate 150 billion yuan 91-day treasury cash deposit also matures Monday, adding to the liquidity drain.

TREE NEWS update: Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor Kent said the current cash rate estimate indicates policy is somewhat restrictive, with household consumption growth expected to slow. Overall financial conditions are slightly tight, while business credit growth in Australia remains quite strong.

TREE NEWS reports: London spot gold closed at $4,165.175 an ounce on Oct. 16, down more than 25% from its record high earlier this year. Gold-themed wealth management product issuance has been dormant for three months, with Wind data showing Bank of Beijing Wealth Management’s “Chunmou Dingzhiying No. 43 Gold Theme A” launching Sept. 16 as the first such fixed-income-plus product to break the gap. Performance has diverged on position structure, fixed-income base quality and options design.

TREE NEWS reports: Chinese private fund managers say the recent A-share selloff is not a mid-term trend reversal but the result of external disturbances, changes in positioning structure and capital rebalancing. With AI-linked telecom and electronics names retreating, low-crowding utilities and defensive banks and coal stocks have outperformed. Managers are shifting strategy from sector beta to individual stock alpha and from position timing to portfolio structure optimization.

TREE NEWS reports: Securities Times called on China’s public mutual funds to serve as stabilizers for the capital market, arguing their professional research and long-term investment capabilities should let them judge companies on intrinsic value rather than chase short-term market noise. The commentary warned that some funds still follow pro-cyclical habits, crowding into hot sectors when markets rally and facing concentrated redemptions when sentiment cools, a trend it described as “institutional investors behaving like retail.”

TREE NEWS reports: China’s September economic data are due for release, with experts expecting infrastructure investment growth to rebound on faster deployment of multiple funding sources. Recent incremental measures, including a cut to the interest rate on pledged supplementary lending (PSL) and an expanded scope for PSL, as well as better use of local government debt carryover limits, are seen as strong support for infrastructure investment. Private investment confidence is also expected to improve as joint efforts boost private-sector vitality.

TREE NEWS reports: As of October 18, 3,734 A-share listed companies have implemented cash dividends this year, with total cash payouts exceeding 2 trillion yuan. Buybacks and share purchases by major shareholders have also been密集, signaling stronger commitment to returning capital to investors. Market participants expect more companies and shareholders to increase dividends, buybacks and stake purchases, supporting market-value management and a positive cycle for shareholder rights and ownership structure.