TREE NEWS update: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is prepared for war but does not want any war to occur, warning that if the situation spirals out of control there will be no winners. He also said Russia does not want a situation like the one in the Strait of Hormuz to arise in the Baltic Sea.
TREE NEWS reports: LME copper closed down $121 at $14,356 per ton, while tin fell $1,020 to $49,697 per ton and nickel lost $69 to $15,536 per ton. Aluminum rose $6 to $3,078 per ton, zinc gained $20 to $3,883 per ton and lead added $16 to $1,915 per ton. Cobalt was unchanged at $33,510 per ton.
TREE NEWS reports: The S&P 500 dropped 0.6% to a fresh session low, led by a 6.8% plunge in the telecom sector. Technology stocks followed with a 1.1% decline, while utilities, financials, health care and real estate each gained more than 1%.
TREE NEWS update: Russian President Vladimir Putin said the leaders of Norway and Finland told him in calls that they do not represent the European Union. Putin also said Russia supports any action that can restore relations with European countries. He made the remarks without providing further details on the timing or content of the conversations.
TREE NEWS update: US President Donald Trump said the Iran issue will be over soon, reiterating his earlier remarks. No further details, timeline or policy measures were provided in his statement. The comment comes amid ongoing market attention to geopolitical developments in the Middle East.
TREE NEWS reports: Netanyahu’s bloc is leading in the final vote count of Israel’s parliamentary election. The final tally puts the former prime minister’s camp ahead as the count concludes. No further details on seat totals or coalition prospects were provided.
TREE NEWS update: Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran has repeatedly and clearly conveyed its conditions to mediators, adding that a carrot-and-stick approach will not work on Iran. He said progress is only possible if Iran’s seven conditions are accepted. Ghalibaf did not specify the conditions or name the mediators.
TREE NEWS reports: Chevron and Exxon Mobil have canceled plans to travel to the United Arab Emirates next week to attend the Adipec oil conference, citing security concerns. The two U.S. oil majors scrapped the trip ahead of the event scheduled for next week in the UAE.
TREE NEWS update: US President Donald Trump said the Federal Reserve is unwilling to lower interest rates. The remark, made without further detail, restates his public pressure on the central bank over monetary policy. No specific rate decision or timeline was cited.
TREE NEWS update: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Icelandic Foreign Minister Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir, referred to in the material as Gunnarsdóttir, in Beijing on the 29th. Wang, also a member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, met his Icelandic counterpart for bilateral talks. No further details of the meeting were provided.
TREE NEWS update: France will mobilize 70,000 security personnel to maintain order during protests on October 31, Interior Minister said. The minister stated that authorities will not tolerate any rioting and that security forces will act with extreme firmness. The deployment covers nationwide protests scheduled for that date.
TREE NEWS update: Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has proposed holding Venezuela’s elections in 2027. Machado disclosed the proposal without giving further details on its terms or the response from Venezuela’s government. The U.S. State Department has not commented on the account.
TREE NEWS reports: The Federal Reserve’s overnight reverse repurchase agreement (RRP) facility absorbed $353 million on Thursday, October 29, from four counterparties, up from $176 million the prior trading day, when the central bank left rates unchanged. The figures reflect the modest take-up of the Fed’s floor tool as policymakers hold their stance.
TREE NEWS reports: About $11 billion of Bitcoin options are set to expire Friday, representing a third of Deribit’s Bitcoin options, one day after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady with two officials voting to hike. The expiry lands as traders weigh the Fed’s split decision.
TREE NEWS update: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Oct. 29 that President Volodymyr Zelensky is willing to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the most complex and sensitive core issues, including territory. Sybiha said a meeting between the two leaders could push peace negotiations toward substantive progress. Ukraine has ruled out Moscow or Belarus as a venue for any such summit.
TREE NEWS update: Germany’s two-year bond yield fell 5.6 basis points to 3.075% on Thursday as the European Central Bank held rates steady, deepening its decline after the 21:15 announcement and hitting a session low at 23:34. The 10-year yield dropped 1.6 bps to 3.355%, touching a session low during ECB President Christine Lagarde’s press conference, while the 30-year rose 1.6 bps to 3.701%. The 2/10-year spread widened 4.026 bps to +27.785 bps.
TREE NEWS reports: Citigroup lowered its forecast for the euro against the dollar, pointing to a range of risks in Europe and elevated oil prices. The bank did not disclose the new target level in the material. The revision reflects concerns over the outlook for the eurozone economy and energy costs.
TREE NEWS reports: Rio Tinto’s ADR dropped as much as 4.3% to $81.90, hitting an intraday low not seen since March, after the company temporarily suspended underground operations at its Oyu Tolgoi copper mine. The halt follows an accident in which several miners were injured. The ADR move reflects investor reaction to the disruption at one of Rio Tinto’s key growth assets.
TREE NEWS reports: International copper fell 0.8% in the night session, while Shanghai copper dropped 0.57%. Shanghai tin led the declines with a 3.65% drop, and Shanghai nickel lost 0.77%. Shanghai aluminium edged up 0.06%, zinc rose 0.12% and lead gained 0.06%, while alumina was flat and aluminium alloy fell 0.59%.
TREE NEWS update: European benchmark natural gas futures rose above €100 per megawatt-hour on 29 November, the first time since December 2022, as EU energy ministers met to address surging energy costs. EU Energy and Housing Commissioner Jørgensen warned Europe faces “another energy crisis,” with more than 50 million Europeans potentially unable to afford winter heating.