Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: Citi said it maintains a neutral view on aluminum prices in the short term, with investors increasingly shrugging off the current spot supply tightness and turning their attention to a possible supply surplus in 2027. The bank’s call frames the market’s focus as shifting from near-term physical constraints to longer-dated oversupply risk.

TREE NEWS update: India’s securities regulator reinstated an earlier settlement method for equity derivatives expiries, effectively decoupling the newly introduced closing call auction from futures and options price discovery after it triggered sharp volatility. In a circular issued Thursday evening, the Securities and Exchange Board of India said the settlement price for index and stock derivatives expiring that day will be based on the volume-weighted average price of the last 30 minutes of trading. The change takes effect December 7.

TREE NEWS reports: US money market fund assets declined to $7.92 trillion, the Investment Company Institute reported. The figure marks a drop in total money market fund holdings from the prior week’s level. ICI publishes weekly tallies of US money market fund assets.

TREE NEWS reports: The onshore yuan closed at 6.6914 per US dollar at 03:00 Beijing time, up 64 pips from Wednesday’s overnight close. Turnover for the session totaled $31.745 billion. The move marks a firmer close for the Chinese currency against the dollar.

TREE NEWS reports: The Hang Seng Index main futures contract closed its night session up 0.88% at 24,274 points. The Hang Seng Tech Index main futures contract closed the same session up 1.28% at 4,114 points.

TREE NEWS update: India has set its windfall tax on gasoline exports at 2.5 rupees per litre, effective October 16. The levy applies to exported gasoline under the government’s windfall tax framework for petroleum product shipments.

TREE NEWS reports: The US dollar dropped 1.0% against the Swiss franc on the day, trading at 0.8262. The move marks a single-session decline of that magnitude in the USD/CHF pair.

TREE NEWS reports: WTI November crude futures settled $2.88 higher, up nearly 3.03%, at $97.97 a barrel, approaching the September 15 close of $100.75. The contract has gained more than 10% since trading ended on October 7. Middle East Abu Dhabi Murban crude fell 2.38% to $108.30 a barrel, while NYMEX November natural gas settled at $3.2360 per million British thermal units.

TREE NEWS reports: Shanghai Futures Exchange crude oil futures for December 2026 delivery closed the night session up 0.11% at 726 yuan per barrel. In precious metals, Shanghai gold rose 0.99% and Shanghai silver gained 1.58% in night trading.

TREE NEWS update: German Chancellor Merz said on July 15 in Brussels that he opposes transferring frozen Russian sovereign assets held in the European Union to US control, calling the matter an internal European affair. Speaking to media before the two-day EU summit opened, Merz said the assets were frozen in Europe and should remain frozen there, adding that it is Europe’s decision to make.

TREE NEWS reports: BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said halting AI data center construction could tip the US into recession, speaking after the firm’s Q3 earnings. Fink called the backlash against data centers “misinformation,” noting AI infrastructure spending has become central to US growth as data centers emerge as a midterm election flashpoint.

TREE NEWS update: Bolivia is dismantling its state-controlled gold trading system, ending central bank purchases of the metal and loosening restrictions on private exports. Under new rules backed by President Paz, exporters will no longer need a central bank certificate to ship gold abroad, but at least 80% of export proceeds must flow into Bolivia’s banking system. The reform ends a three-year system overseen by the central bank.

TREE NEWS update: Germany’s parliament approved higher local carbon costs for heating and fuel. The measure raises the carbon price applied to heating and transport fuels. The decision was passed by the Bundestag.

TREE NEWS update: US Central Command said on October 15 that three Iranian claims about the Strait of Hormuz made over the previous 24 hours were false, stating that the US and its regional partners still control the waters and that commercial vessels continue to transit. CENTCOM said a Singapore-flagged container ship was struck by an IRGC projectile rather than a mine and sank while being towed ashore, with more than 40 merchant ships passing through the strait in the past 24 hours. It also denied IRGC claims that hundreds of US troops were killed in Jordan, saying only three US service members died in July.

TREE NEWS update: At least six Indian asset managers, including Tata Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential AMC, HDFC Mutual Fund, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC and DSP, filed documents on Thursday evening restricting subscriptions to gold exchange-traded funds and related fund-of-fund products. The firms did not give a reason, though the move comes as a weaker rupee drives sustained demand for precious-metals exposure through ETFs.

TREE NEWS update: UniCredit said the European Central Bank has authorised it to increase its stake in Commerzbank without an upper limit. The Italian lender expects to hold roughly 50% of the German bank’s voting shares by the end of 2026.

TREE NEWS reports: The European Union is ready to accelerate its satellite project aimed at competing with SpaceX, people familiar with the matter said. The move signals a push to speed up Europe’s own satellite constellation efforts as SpaceX’s Starlink expands. No timeline or funding details were immediately disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: The US Treasury’s OFAC sanctioned 16 Iran-related individuals and multiple firms and financial institutions, including Iraq’s International Development and Investment Bank, Iran’s Chabahar International Offshore Bank, Jazeera International Bank and several currency exchange companies. OFAC also blacklisted Cuba’s Banco Internacional de Comercio (BICSA). Two Russia-related general licenses were issued covering Lukoil retail fuel stations outside Russia and Lukoil entities in Bulgaria, plus an Iran general license for the orderly wind-down of transactions involving the International Development and Investment Bank.

TREE NEWS reports: Shanghai base metals closed mostly lower, with SHFE copper down 0.71%, zinc down 0.80%, lead down 0.28% and nickel down 1.67%, while tin rose 1.22% and aluminium gained 0.24%. In overnight trading, international copper fell 0.98%, alumina rose 0.39%, aluminium alloy rose 0.26% and stainless steel slipped 0.30%.

TREE NEWS reports: The Federal Reserve’s overnight reverse repurchase agreement (RRP) facility took in $1.201 billion on Thursday, October 15, from four counterparties, up from $201 million the previous trading day. The RRP is a key tool the Fed uses to absorb excess cash from money markets and set a floor under short-term rates.