Flash News

TREE NEWS update: Yemen’s government confirmed on the evening of October 16 local time that Aden International Airport in the country’s south was struck by two missiles fired by the Houthis. A CCTV correspondent in Aden had earlier heard a large explosion. The Houthis said they attacked a Saudi military command post and weapons depot at the Badr military base in Aden province.

TREE NEWS reports: On Friday, October 16, the Nasdaq 100 ETF closed down 2.5%, leading declines among most major US asset-class ETFs. The Barclays US Convertible Bond ETF fell 2.11%, the emerging markets ETF dropped 1.74%, the Russell 2000 ETF lost 1.69% and the S&P 500 ETF slipped 1.11%, while the 20+ year Treasury ETF rose 0.12% and the Brent oil fund gained 3.59%.

TREE NEWS reports: WTI crude oil rose 4.0% intraday to trade at $101.9 a barrel. The move marks a sharp single-session gain for the US benchmark, which has pushed back above the $100 level.

TREE NEWS reports: The Bloomberg Electric Vehicle Price Return Index fell 0.56% on Friday, October 16, closing at 2,973.30 points, with losses continuing through the U.S. trading session. The index ended the week down 6.13%, its sixth decline in the past seven weeks and its steepest weekly drop since the week of June 26, when it fell more than 8.95%.

TREE NEWS update: S&P affirmed the Netherlands’ long-term sovereign credit rating at AAA and its short-term rating at A-1+, with a stable outlook. The ratings agency kept the country in its highest investment-grade bracket. No change was made to the outlook.

TREE NEWS reports: Japan held $1.068 trillion in US Treasuries in August, down from $1.104 trillion in July, while the United Kingdom’s holdings rose above $1 trillion, to $1.01 trillion from $998 billion the prior month. The shift makes Britain the second-largest foreign holder of US government debt behind Japan.

TREE NEWS reports: The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed down 1.3% on an initial basis, bringing its weekly decline to roughly 1%. The index tracks Chinese companies listed on US exchanges.

TREE NEWS reports: The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration could approve the Boeing 737 MAX 10 as soon as next week, following a Friday meeting of the type certification board. The approval would clear the way for the largest variant of the 737 MAX to enter service.

TREE NEWS reports: The CFTC reported that in the week ended October 13, speculators held a net short position of 22,078 contracts in the Swiss franc. Sterling net shorts stood at 106,964 contracts, while the yen was net long 50,207 contracts and the euro net short 137,573 contracts.

TREE NEWS reports: The CFTC reported that speculative net long positions in COMEX silver fell to 5,735 contracts in the week ended October 13, an approximately eight-month low. The data, published in the agency’s weekly Commitments of Traders report, tracks positioning by speculative traders in COMEX silver futures.

TREE NEWS reports: Speculative net long positions in NYMEX WTI crude oil fell by 1,726 contracts to 102,765 in the week to October 13, the lowest in ten weeks, the CFTC said. Combined Brent and WTI net longs dropped to 345,075 contracts, a three-week low, while NYMEX gasoline net longs rose to 97,646 contracts, an roughly 11-month high. NYMEX natural gas net short positions declined to 131,421 contracts.

TREE NEWS reports: Speculators increased their net short position in CBOT 10-year US Treasury futures by 91,621 contracts to 988,102 in the week to October 13, the CFTC said. Net shorts in 2-year Treasury futures rose 58,675 contracts to 911,579, and ultra-long Treasury net shorts climbed 45,258 contracts to 321,597. Five-year Treasury net shorts fell 83,327 contracts to 1,080,204, while 10-year net shorts rose to 126,438.

TREE NEWS reports: Equity fund speculators reduced their net short position in CME S&P 500 futures by 5,804 contracts to 390,896 contracts in the week ended October 13, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said. The weekly positioning data covers speculative accounts classified as equity funds.

TREE NEWS update: Nicolas Maduro Guerra, son of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and a member of the National Assembly, said in a video posted early on the 16th that US judicial proceedings against his parents are an ‘illegal’ trial that violates all existing international law. Citing Maduro’s remarks at a New York court appearance on the 15th, he said the charges are false and contain nothing new, and that Maduro is ‘innocent.’ Venezuela will pursue the couple’s release through diplomacy and dialogue.

TREE NEWS reports: CBOT soybean futures fell 2.44% on the week to $12.6050 a bushel, sliding through Oct. 14-16, while soymeal dropped 2.43% and soyoil 1.35%. Corn shed 1.15% to $4.7425 a bushel and wheat lost 1.68% to $6.5975, with the Bloomberg Grains Subindex down 1.84% at 31.8469. Lean hogs fell 1.40%, while live cattle rose 0.62% and feeder cattle 0.67%.

TREE NEWS update: China’s first full-chain demonstration project for capturing, utilizing and storing one million tonnes of low-concentration carbon dioxide has begun construction at the Shengli Oilfield, Sinopec said. Once completed, the project will capture low-concentration flue gas from coal-fired power plants and use it entirely for oil displacement and storage in the oilfield, exploring a path to large-scale carbon reduction for coal power.

TREE NEWS update: A Russian energy forum centred its discussions on an Iran-Russia natural gas agreement and the interconnection of energy networks in the Caucasus, the forum’s agenda showed. The talks covered cross-border gas cooperation between Moscow and Tehran alongside plans to link power grids across the Caucasus region. No further details or figures were disclosed.

TREE NEWS reports: The dollar rose 0.02% against the yen to 158.02 in New York late trade on Friday, October 16, ending the week down 0.18% with a trading range of 158.95 to 157.55. The euro gained 0.12% for the week to 177.56 yen and sterling rose 0.54% to 210.553 yen, while the yen added 0.11% against the offshore yuan to 4.2319.

TREE NEWS update: Kenya’s Ministry of Health confirmed a third case of Bundibugyo ebolavirus on 16 August, bringing the country’s total confirmed cases to three. The patient, a 65-year-old woman, is a close relative and contact of the first two patients and had been under isolation since 6 August before testing positive. She developed fever, sore throat and general malaise during observation.

TREE NEWS reports: The ICE US Dollar Index fell 0.16% to 101.839 in late New York trading on Friday, October 16, after touching 102.945 on October 14, its highest since April 2025, and retreating over the following two sessions. The index lost 0.37% for the week, trading between 102.945 and 101.576. The Bloomberg Dollar Index also dropped 0.16% to 1222.54, down 0.28% on the week.