Flash News

TREE NEWS update: US Central Command said Iran’s claims over the past 24 hours were false, including Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps assertions that it controls the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM said the Singapore-flagged container ship GFS Proud was struck by an IRGC projectile, not a mine, and sank while being towed ashore, with more than 40 vessels transiting the strait in the past 24 hours. It also said three US service members were killed in July, not hundreds in Jordan.

TREE NEWS update: SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon spacecraft docked automatically with the International Space Station at 10:27 a.m. EDT on the 15th, delivering about 2,860 kg of research equipment and supplies. The capsule launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station atop a Falcon 9 rocket at about 6:33 a.m. EDT on the 13th. It is scheduled to remain at the station until mid-November before returning to Earth with research results and other cargo.

TREE NEWS reports: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s August decision to unexpectedly expand old-bond buybacks caught some Wall Street traders off guard, and they are now preparing for further active intervention. With the Treasury set to release its latest debt management plan in November, the market may get key clues this Friday. Bessent’s so-called “Treasury twist” is a response to the sharp rise in US Treasury yields.

TREE NEWS reports: Harvard University’s endowment reached a record $68 billion, following a 27% return, the fund said. The figure marks a new high for the largest university endowment in the United States. No further details were disclosed.

TREE NEWS reports: London Metal Exchange copper closed down $144 at $14,347 per tonne, with nickel falling $289 to $15,221, tin down $321 to $50,125 and cobalt down $2,530 to $36,815. Zinc slipped $54 to $3,664 and lead $16 to $1,881, while aluminium settled flat at $2,987 per tonne.

TREE NEWS reports: French 10-year government bond yields fell 8.5 basis points to 4.796% in late European trading on Thursday, October 15, touching a session low of 4.723% before paring some losses. The 30-year yield dropped 8.0 basis points and the two-year fell 3 basis points. Italian 10-year yields slid 6.7bps to 4.483%, Spanish 10-year yields lost 6.3bps to 4.025%, and Greek 10-year yields declined 6.5bps to 4.328%.

TREE NEWS update: Sweden’s Riksbank has recommended that lawmakers prepare for a possible digital krona, pointing to concerns over foreign-currency stablecoins and the future of domestic payments. The central bank’s recommendation comes as the European Central Bank advances its own digital euro plans.

TREE NEWS update: Germany and France have reached an agreement on protecting the European Union’s automotive industry. The deal between the two governments was reported on Wednesday. No further details of the agreement were immediately available.

TREE NEWS update: Italy’s three-year budget has attracted €10.7 billion in investment interest from the financial sector. The figure represents indicative demand from financial industry participants for the multi-year fiscal plan.

TREE NEWS update: The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed drones launched by the Houthis toward southern Saudi Arabia. The coalition announced the interceptions on its own account; no casualties or damage were disclosed. The Houthis have not commented.

TREE NEWS reports: German 10-year Bund yields fell 5.3 basis points to 3.413% in late European trading on Thursday, October 15, after gapping lower and drifting steadily to a session low at 21:00 Beijing time. The 30-year yield also dropped 5.3 bps to 3.774%, while the 2-year fell 1.7 bps to 3.112%. The 2/10-year spread narrowed 3.712 bps to +29.817 bps.

TREE NEWS reports: Citigroup strategists expect technology stocks to contribute almost 70% of global earnings growth in 2027, a concentration that would rank among the highest on record. The team, including David Groman and Beata Manthey, said the largest contributing sector has averaged about 40% of earnings growth over the past 30 years, warning that an AI boom cooldown could put the stock rally at risk.

TREE NEWS update: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on October 15 that Russia will respond to Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries and other logistics and energy facilities. Speaking with Russian business representatives, Putin said the strikes on a series of refineries had caused no substantive damage but had not stopped. He said Ukraine was the first to attack facilities linked to e-commerce platforms, and that Kyiv should have considered the consequences.

TREE NEWS update: Guangdong-registered yachts began operating under the “Guangdong yachts southward” scheme on October 16, following the earlier launch of the “Hong Kong and Macau yachts northward” arrangement in June. The move marks a key step toward two-way互通 yacht自由行 across the Greater Bay Area and is expected to boost maritime connectivity in the region.

TREE NEWS update: Iran’s navy said on the 15th that its monitoring teams found an oil tanker on fire in the eastern waters of the Strait of Hormuz. In a statement on the military’s website, the navy said the vessel had turned off its tracking system and was attempting to pass through a “restricted zone.” The navy said it holds “complete control and dominance” over the eastern Strait of Hormuz.

TREE NEWS update: US President Trump said on the 15th that the Pentagon will not livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting in Texas. Trump wrote on social media that a livestream might have served as a strong deterrent, but that many good people do not wish to watch his death “whether by livestream or any other video means.” Hasan will be executed by firing squad as scheduled, but the process will not be broadcast.

TREE NEWS reports: Bitcoin briefly fell below $80,000 for the first time in nearly a month, pressured by a selloff in US AI stocks that weighed on risk assets broadly. Derive.xyz founder Nick Forster said market-implied odds of bitcoin reaching $100,000 by Christmas fell 2.8 percentage points in 24 hours to 9.7%, as crypto sentiment turned defensive.

TREE NEWS update: Houthi forces fired six ballistic missiles at the presidential palace in Aden, Yemen’s southern interim capital, on the 15th, killing at least three security personnel and wounding six, a Yemeni government official said. Prime Minister Shayea Mohsen al-Zindani was chairing a cabinet meeting there at the time, with most ministers present. Residents reported six loud explosions and rising smoke; Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree called the strike on the “Saudi enemy military operations command” legitimate.

TREE NEWS update: A senior Japanese Finance Ministry official said no participants at G7 or G20 meetings expressed concern that an AI-sector selloff could destabilize the financial system. The official added that the global economy has shown resilience in absorbing various shocks. The remarks were made at the G7 and G20 meetings.

TREE NEWS update: Yemen’s Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree repeated a warning on the 15th that Saudi airspace and airports are “unsafe,” excluding Mecca and Medina. In a social media statement, he said the group has repeatedly issued such warnings to airlines and is able to mount a “reciprocal response” to Saudi military operations against Houthi-controlled areas. Earlier the same day, Saree said the group carried out no attacks inside Saudi Arabia that day and denied Saudi claims that Medina was struck.