Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: US capacity utilization for September came in at 76.9%, beating the 76.5% forecast and up from the prior reading of 76.3%. The reading shows a larger share of the nation’s industrial capacity was in use during the month than economists had expected.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s night futures session opened with coking coal falling more than 2%, while SC crude oil and propylene each dropped over 1%. LPG and soybean meal slipped nearly 1%, while fuel oil rose more than 2% and Shanghai silver, international copper and alumina each gained nearly 1%.

TREE NEWS update: China’s State Council executive meeting called for technology innovation to be driven by deployed applications and for deeper expansion of the “AI Plus” initiative. Separately, two government departments proposed banning or restricting exports of 40 technologies across artificial intelligence, biomedicine and solar power. The PBOC’s Pan Gongsheng also said China will push for yuan-denominated bonds to become a globally recognized eligible collateral.

TREE NEWS update: Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Florida next Friday. The rally will take place in the state where the former president has his primary residence and political base. No further details on venue or timing were immediately provided.

TREE NEWS reports: Charles Schwab CEO said investor interest in fixed income products has reached a record level. The remark points to a shift in retail investor demand toward yield-bearing fixed income instruments. No specific figures or product details were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission approved hydrogen comprehensive application pilot programs in five city clusters, including Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Greater Bay Area, Northeast China with eastern Inner Mongolia to the Yangtze River Delta, Xinjiang to the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, and the Yellow River bend to the Central Plains. The pilots will run for four years.

TREE NEWS update: Dongchedi said claims that it deleted large numbers of videos are false, stating that viral screenshots were stitched together from different accounts’ work data to create a false impression. The platform said its test account added no new content after July apart from videos related to a brake pedal bracket, so no mass deletion occurred. The rumor spread amid the Zunjie V800 brake test controversy.

TREE NEWS reports: Canada recorded a net foreign securities outflow of C$17.312 billion in August, swinging from a net inflow of C$20.65 billion the previous month. The August figure marks a reversal in overseas demand for Canadian securities, with foreign investors turning net sellers of the assets in the month.

TREE NEWS reports: US import prices rose 8.1% year-on-year in September, coming in slightly below the 8.2% expected, with the prior reading at 7%. The print marks a further acceleration in import inflation from the previous month even as it undershot consensus.

TREE NEWS update: The United States is scheduled to release its September import and export price indices at 20:30 Beijing time. The data, published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, tracks price changes for goods entering and leaving the country and is watched as an inflation input. No figures have been released yet.

TREE NEWS reports: Canada’s housing starts came in at 248,900 units in September, above the 232,500 expected and up from a revised 229,000 in the prior month. The stronger-than-expected reading marks a pickup in new residential construction activity.

TREE NEWS update: China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, together with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, formally issued a pilot work plan to promote industrial upgrading through testing and inspection. The eight-department plan marks a shift in the country’s testing and inspection services sector from isolated breakthroughs toward systemic enablement.

TREE NEWS reports: The Baltic Dry Index fell 1.34% to 2,511 points, marking its tenth consecutive session of declines. The index tracks freight rates for dry bulk carriers across capesize, panamax and supramax vessels.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce said the EU cannot expect to trade concessions for pressure, after the European Union summit floated a “dual-track” approach to China. The ministry said the understanding reached on hybrid vehicles, based on WTO rules, facts and non-discrimination, was mutually beneficial, protecting Chinese firms’ interests while addressing EU concerns and averting an escalation in trade friction. It said claims that EU pressure had worked are groundless.

TREE NEWS update: Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the BOJ will continue raising interest rates and gradually adjust monetary easing as underlying inflation approaches the 2% target, with financial conditions still accommodative. Ueda said maintaining the stability of the 2% inflation goal is becoming increasingly important, adding that no views diverging from the BOJ’s basic assessment were heard during this week’s meeting. The BOJ will keep watching the weak yen, AI development and Middle East tensions for their impact on prices.

TREE NEWS update: Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said he has been monitoring the impact of a weakening yen and the situation in the Middle East on inflation, and that the central bank will continue to adjust the degree of monetary easing. Ueda’s remarks point to inflation risks from currency weakness and geopolitical tensions as the BOJ weighs its policy path.

TREE NEWS reports: Google has cleared a major quantum computing hurdle, while Bitcoin remains safe from the advance. Crypto majors rebounded despite a hotter-than-expected PPI print, and Michael Saylor’s Strategy faces the risk of removal from a major index.

TREE NEWS reports: Brazil’s presidential runoff race is statistically tied, with Flavio Bolsonaro and incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva each at 50% of valid votes in a PoderData/Aya poll released Friday morning. The survey excludes blank and invalid ballots. An earlier poll had put Bolsonaro 2 percentage points ahead.

TREE NEWS update: Iran’s army spokesman Akraminia said on the 16th that new weapons systems have been put into service and that the country’s defensive capabilities are stronger than during the US-Israel-Iran war. He said Iran shot down several US drones in recent weeks and that the army, under the defense ministry, drew up and carried out new operational and equipment plans. He added that the army and the Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace force have held joint drills.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Ecology and Environment and State Administration for Market Regulation held a joint meeting with more than 30 major automakers to tighten management of vehicle product design, R&D and testing verification. Companies were told to implement a quality-improvement campaign, firmly resist irrational competition and hold the line on product safety.