Flash News

TREE NEWS update: Iran said it has strengthened its air defense capabilities following the conflict. The announcement did not specify which systems were upgraded, where they are deployed, or a timeline for the improvements. No further operational details were provided.

TREE NEWS reports: Eurozone harmonised index of consumer prices rose 0.6% month on month in September, the final reading showed, matching both the 0.6% flash estimate and the 0.6% consensus expectation. The final print confirms no revision to the earlier September inflation estimate for the currency bloc.

TREE NEWS reports: The eurozone’s seasonally adjusted trade balance fell to a deficit of €6.8 billion in August, swinging from a €5.0 billion surplus in the previous month. The €11.8 billion month-on-month deterioration marks a sharp reversal in the bloc’s external trade position.

TREE NEWS reports: Russia and Iran held talks on the route and pricing for a natural gas pipeline. The discussions cover the pipeline’s alignment and the pricing terms for the gas it would carry. No further details on volumes, timelines or agreements were given.

TREE NEWS update: Jiangsu Power Exchange Center issued the 2027 Jiangsu Power Retail Market Trading Guidelines, formally ending the fixed electricity price model that had long dominated the province’s mainstream market. The rules push wholesale-to-retail price transmission through retail pricing rules, undercutting the fixed price-spread arbitrage that behind-the-meter commercial and industrial energy storage has relied on.

TREE NEWS update: Guangxi issued a 3-year special local government bond on Tuesday, raising 6.586 billion yuan at an issuance yield of 1.3000%. The bid-to-cover marginal ratio came in at 1.16 times against an expected 1.30 times.

TREE NEWS reports: The New Taiwan dollar weakened 1.4% against the US dollar this week, its largest weekly decline in more than a year. The move marks a sharp reversal for the currency, which had earlier been among Asia’s strongest performers.

TREE NEWS update: China International Capital Corporation (CICC) said its share-swap absorption of Dongxing Securities and Xinda Securities has been approved by the CSRC, with both targets to be delisted from October 19, 2026. The A-share registration date for the swap is October 16, 2026, at ratios of 1:0.4376 for Dongxing and 1:0.5210 for Xinda. After the merger the two firms will be deregistered, with all assets and liabilities assumed by CICC.

TREE NEWS reports: A total of 52 private fund managers in China crossed the 10-billion-yuan (RMB10bn) asset threshold so far in 2026, bringing the number of managers at that scale to 159 as of September 30, 2026, data from Simuwang showed. The expansion marks continued growth in the country’s largest private fund houses.

TREE NEWS reports: Japan’s Meteorological Agency said Friday it mistakenly issued an earthquake alert after overestimating the magnitude of a moderate quake near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, north of Japan. The agency withdrew the warning minutes after phone alerts were triggered and public broadcaster NHK interrupted regular programming to await further information. Some Shinkansen bullet train services were briefly suspended.

TREE NEWS update: JinkoSolar announced it expects a net loss attributable to shareholders of RMB 2.976 billion to 3.576 billion for the first three quarters of 2026, narrowing from a RMB 3.92 billion loss a year earlier. Non-GAAP net loss is projected at RMB 3.811-4.411 billion versus RMB 4.543 billion previously. The company said its TOPCon 3.0 line upgrades and capacity ramp-up are progressing, storage shipments and revenue recognition are growing and starting to contribute operating profit.

TREE NEWS reports: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed 0.52% higher and the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 1.16%. Lenovo Group gained about 8% and KE Holdings climbed roughly 5%, while Recbio fell about 18%, Qingcheng New Drug dropped around 8% and WuXi AppTec slipped about 2%.

TREE NEWS update: South Korea’s finance minister and the governor of the Bank of Korea held a joint meeting with the US Federal Reserve and the US Treasury Department. Participants discussed recent economic conditions and economic and financial cooperation between the two countries.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and five other departments jointly issued a notice launching a three-year “Warmth Project” for urban heating, the ministry said on the 16th. The action aims to address insufficient heat-source capacity and equipment failures. It requires marked progress by the end of 2028 in renovating and upgrading aging heating pipelines.

TREE NEWS reports: The London Metal Exchange reported lower inventories for copper, lead, aluminium, tin and nickel. Copper stocks fell 1,175 tonnes, lead dropped 525 tonnes, aluminium declined 250 tonnes and tin shed 95 tonnes, while nickel slid 2,076 tonnes. Zinc was the outlier, with inventories rising 7,225 tonnes.

TREE NEWS update: Wuhan sold three residential land plots on October 16 for a combined 1.513 billion yuan, against a total starting price of 1.368 billion yuan. One plot drew a premium while two sold at the base price. The premium parcel, in the East Lake High-Tech Development Zone, went to Hubei Tianchuang Real Estate Development Group after 66 rounds of bidding for 587 million yuan, a floor price of 8,737 yuan per square meter and a 33.14% premium.

TREE NEWS reports: Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna JSC is considering raising about $1 billion equivalent in yuan next year through dim sum or panda bond issuance, managing director for economics and finance Aidar Ryskulov said in an interview Friday. The final decision will depend on market conditions.

TREE NEWS update: Japan and Germany have begun consultations on strengthening semiconductor supply chains. The talks focus on cooperation between the two countries’ chip industries, though no further details of the discussions were disclosed. Both governments have been pushing to secure supplies of critical semiconductors.

TREE NEWS update: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Iran on October 19, and will travel to Bahrain a day earlier on October 18. No further details of the trip were given.

TREE NEWS update: Shanghai Stock Exchange Vice President Yuan Duoran said on October 16 that emerging and future industries accounted for nearly 90% of newly filed STAR Market IPO applicants over the past year. Speaking at the Global Wealth Management Forum’s 2026 Shanghai Suhewan conference, Yuan said the board’s role in serving new quality productive forces is becoming more pronounced.