Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: Ebola has spread to an eighth province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with two cases confirmed in North Ubangi province bordering the Central African Republic. The infections have not been formally announced by national authorities but would be the province’s first confirmed cases, adding new challenges to the fastest-spreading outbreak to date as health workers face a heavy toll among young children.

TREE NEWS update: Russia’s consumer rights and public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said on the 15th that it has launched an epidemiological investigation into a suspected mpox case in the Moscow region and taken prevention measures, including identifying contacts and carrying out disinfection. Five people have been hospitalized for medical observation. The agency said its high-tech testing system can detect the mpox virus rapidly.

TREE NEWS update: Federal Reserve Chair Warsh and IMF Managing Director Georgieva hold a fireside chat in Bangkok at 11:30 Beijing time, part of a packed schedule of central bank appearances. Chicago Fed President Goolsbee speaks to CNN at 07:15, while BoE Governor Bailey, ECB’s Nagel and the Bank of Canada’s Macklem also appear in Bangkok. Eurozone September final CPI is due at 17:00.

TREE NEWS update: Bank of Jiangsu will fully redeem 200 million ‘Suyin You 1’ preferred shares on Nov 30, priced at par plus declared unpaid dividends, retiring capital instruments issued in 2017. China CITIC Bank will redeem 350 million preferred shares issued in 2016 on Oct 26. Wind data shows Everbright, Ping An, China Merchants, Bank of Beijing and Bank of Nanjing have already completed preferred share redemptions this year.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s central state-owned enterprises are accelerating construction of major projects this autumn, spanning desert solar bases, nuclear power sites, new energy storage and computing clusters. Industry figures say the SOEs are directing capital toward energy security, green transition and industrial chain gaps under the “15th Five-Year Plan” and its “six networks” framework, using physical project work to support effective investment and full-year growth.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s 30-year treasury futures front-month contract touched a new year-to-date high in early trade on October 15 before retreating below the 118 yuan mark by the close. Interbank liquidity stayed loose, with DR001 falling 0.38 basis points to 1.262%, a fresh low since May 19. Easing bank liability pressure and the central bank’s increased medium- and long-term liquidity injections have supported the post-holiday bond rally.

TREE NEWS reports: Hong Kong-listed Chinese companies are stepping up plans to list on mainland A-share markets, with Lygend Resources completing its return on September 30. Zhipu, MINIMAX, Yunyinggu Technology, Jingfeng Medical and Paradigm Intelligence are also advancing similar plans. Industry participants attribute the moves to corporate structure, sci-tech attributes and profit cycles, and expect improving mainland-Hong Kong regulatory coordination to widen the path for quality Hong Kong assets to tap onshore valuations and renminbi financing.

TREE NEWS update: Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said at a press conference in Riyadh on 15th that Houthi attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport since October have killed 17 people and wounded 333. It was the coalition’s first press conference in recent times, focusing on the attacks on the airport and other locations, as well as coalition strikes on the Houthis.

TREE NEWS update: Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said the Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates more aggressively if the public’s inflation expectations deteriorate significantly. Speaking at a Goldman Sachs event in New York, Hammack said that if inflation psychology takes hold and markets expect price pressures to become more persistent, monetary policy may require larger action than would otherwise be needed.

TREE NEWS reports: Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said financial conditions do not appear to be restrictive in a broad sense. The remark, made without a specified date, touches on how loose market conditions factor into the Federal Reserve’s policy stance. Hammack is a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee.

TREE NEWS reports: The US 10-year Treasury yield fell 12.74 basis points to 5.0580% at the New York close on Thursday, October 15, trading between 5.1561% and 5.0351% during the session. It gapped lower in Asia-Pacific hours and approached the September 23 low of 4.9307% shortly after US PPI data. The 2-year yield dropped 6.13 basis points to 4.7382%, swinging sharply after the PPI release.

TREE NEWS reports: At the Thursday (Oct. 15) close in New York, S&P 500 futures finished up 0.24% and Dow futures rose 1.08%, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.30%. Russell 2000 futures gained 1.38%.

TREE NEWS reports: The FTSE China A50 index futures contract closed its continuous overnight session up 0.55%, at 13,453 points. The move marks the level at which the Singapore-listed futures contract tracking the 50 largest A-share companies settled for the overnight trading window.

TREE NEWS reports: Spot gold rose 1.56% to $4,169.33 an ounce at the New York close on Thursday, October 15, after climbing sharply around 08:00 Beijing time and hitting a session high of $4,177.43 at the 04:00 US stock close. Spot silver gained 3.30% to $57.3969 an ounce, touching $57.5305. Spot platinum rose 1.69% and palladium 2.96%, while COMEX copper fell 1.42% to $6.5660 a pound.

TREE NEWS update: MSCI will exclude “non-operating” companies from eligibility for its Global Investable Market Indexes, with the change taking effect at the November 2026 index review and applying after the close on Nov. 30. Eligibility will be determined by one core screen and five non-industry-specific financial ratio screens, with a security disqualified if it trips four or more of the five ratios. Buffer arrangements apply to entry and exit thresholds and timing to limit index turnover, and MSCI will cancel the temporary measures related to digital-asset holdings it announced on Oct. 10.

TREE NEWS reports: MSCI’s emerging markets equity index fell 3.1%, hitting its lowest level since July, while South Korea’s Kospi slid 7.6% to enter a bear market for the second time this year. A developing-nation currency index dropped 0.3%.

TREE NEWS reports: US municipal bonds rallied across the curve on Thursday, with the benchmark 10-year muni yield falling 16 basis points to 3.74% by 4pm New York time — the largest single-day drop in 18 months. The 30-year benchmark yield dropped 15 basis points to 4.97%, also the biggest decline since April 2025. Treasuries of the same maturities rose in tandem as traders sold AI-related stocks and moved into safe havens.

TREE NEWS reports: Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack said she is hearing more feedback from low-income Americans struggling with inflation, and that anecdotal, word-of-mouth information can provide an important economic reference point. Hammack did not indicate any policy stance in the remarks.

TREE NEWS update: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth raised the concept of “NATO 3.0” during talks with UK Defence Secretary Luke Pollard, the Pentagon said. The idea centers on rebalancing the alliance’s forces, and under such a framework the United States would reduce its troop presence in Europe.

TREE NEWS update: MSCI has frozen certain index-related adjustments for Turkish equities, citing concerns over coordinated trading in the Turkish market. The index provider said institutional investors need to see credible and sustained enforcement action against such trading. It will not raise the foreign inclusion factor or share counts, will not add new stocks to the MSCI Turkey Investable Market Index, and has paused migration of stocks to higher market-cap size segments. If no progress is made by June 2027, MSCI said it may consider further measures.