Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed down 1.03% and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 2.72%. GDS Holdings dropped about 16%, Lenovo Group about 15%, YOFC about 13%, MINIMAX about 12%, Zhipu about 10%, Hua Hong Semiconductor about 8% and CATL about 4%.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Oct. 15 that Beijing will make a firm and necessary response if any economies take measures under the pretext of “overcapacity” that harm Chinese interests. The statement came at a regular press conference in Beijing, after the ministry responded on Oct. 9 to a joint statement on “structural overcapacity” led by the United States.

TREE NEWS update: South Korea and Japan have agreed to extend their $10 billion currency swap line, which was due to expire this year, South Korea’s finance ministry said in a statement. The agreement keeps the bilateral facility in place as the two countries maintain financial cooperation. The ministry released the statement by email.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met Apple Executive Chairman Tim Cook on October 15. The two sides exchanged views on China-U.S. economic and trade relations, artificial intelligence development, and Apple’s business in China. No further details of the meeting were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: European Central Bank Governing Council member Martins Kazaks said the ECB does not currently need to rush into raising interest rates. He added that inflationary forces remain relatively strong in the short term. The remarks signal the central bank sees no immediate pressure to tighten policy.

TREE NEWS reports: US-listed memory-chip stocks fell in premarket trading, with SK Hynix down about 6%, SanDisk about 5%, and Western Digital, Micron Technology and Seagate Technology each about 4% lower. TSMC dropped about 2% after the company released its third-quarter earnings.

TREE NEWS update: TSMC is in talks to partner with Elon Musk’s Terafab chip project, but CEO C.C. Wei said TSMC must hold operational control of chip production. “The fab must be operated by TSMC,” Wei said on an earnings call, stressing discussions are ongoing. Musk said last week that TSMC could at most lease capacity, not run the plant, and that Terafab would be operated entirely by his own companies. Neither side has disclosed terms.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.64% as of October 14, near a record low, as long-dated bond trading heated up this week. Several brokerages and banks received targeted reminders from regulators demanding stronger risk management on bond investments. Market participants expect the central bank may take macroprudential measures against institutions with aggressive trading behavior.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce said the understanding reached between China and the EU on hybrid vehicles is mutually beneficial and reciprocal. The ministry was responding to European Commission trade and economic security commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, who said Friday that the consensus on Chinese hybrid vehicle exports stemmed from Beijing’s understanding of European public opinion.

TREE NEWS reports: Several banks have raised USD deposit rates, with multiple products now offering more than 4%. 14. Some banks also showed inverted rates, where shorter-term USD deposits pay more than longer-term ones.

TREE NEWS reports: Ukraine said its October grain exports reached just 38% of the country’s potential export volume for the month. The figure points to a sharply constrained shipping pace for Ukrainian agricultural goods, with the remaining 62% of potential volumes left unshipped in October.

TREE NEWS update: China Development Bank priced a RMB 8 billion 1-year bond at a 1.3657% coupon, below the expected 1.3800%, with a 3.71x bid-to-cover and 2.70x marginal ratio. The policy bank also sold RMB 12 billion of 5-year bonds at 1.4397%, versus 1.4800% expected, drawing a 4.16x bid-to-cover and 1.06x marginal ratio.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s geospatial information industry grew 5.9% in 2025 to a total output value of 900.5 billion yuan, with about 269,000 operating entities, up 11.1% year on year. The sector now employs 447 specialized ‘little giant’ enterprises, accounting for 2.5% of all such firms nationally. The BeiDou system has completed a full in-orbit upgrade.

TREE NEWS update: China’s energy storage battery output exceeded 420GWh in the first half of 2026, up 110% year on year, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xiong Jijun said. Cumulative installed new-type energy storage capacity surpassed 153 million kilowatts as of end-June 2026, 50 times the level at the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan. The ministry said it will guard against “involution-style” competition and shift the industry from scale expansion to innovation-led growth.

TREE NEWS reports: Brent crude oil fell 2.0% intraday on Tuesday, trading at $103.92 a barrel. The move marks a sharp single-session decline for the international benchmark, which has been volatile in recent weeks. No further detail was immediately available on the driver behind the drop.

TREE NEWS update: Saudi Arabia issued a danger warning for the city of Najran. No further details on the nature of the warning, the affected area or the reason behind it were provided in the available material.

TREE NEWS update: EU leaders gathered in Brussels on the morning of October 15 for a two-day summit chaired by European Council President António Costa. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and the leaders of the 27 member states are attending. Talks will cover EU competitiveness, energy prices, the 2028-2034 long-term budget, support for Ukraine, security and defence, migration, EU enlargement and the Middle East.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Foreign Ministry said on October 15 that Chinese and Zimbabwean authorities and financial institutions remain in communication over Zimbabwe’s request for debt treatment, after Zimbabwe’s finance minister was reported to have said Beijing had agreed to a partial restructuring. Spokesperson Mao Ning declined to confirm the report, saying specific progress should be directed to China’s competent authorities.

TREE NEWS update: CK Hutchison Holdings issued a statement on October 15 saying rumours circulating online that chairman Li Ka-shing had died are “utterly untrue.” The company’s public relations department said Li has no plans for a public appearance to respond to the claims.

TREE NEWS update: China and Russia held their 28th round of foreign policy consultations in Moscow on October 14, 2026. Chen Song, director-general of the Policy Planning Department at China’s Foreign Ministry, met with Drobinin, head of the Policy Planning Department at Russia’s Foreign Ministry. The two sides exchanged views on the international situation, their respective foreign policies and other issues of mutual concern.