Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: WTI November crude futures settled up $0.95, or 1.01%, at $95.09 a barrel. NYMEX November natural gas closed at $3.1980 per million British thermal units, while November gasoline settled at $3.2595 a gallon and November heating oil at $4.9274 a gallon.

TREE NEWS reports: The Shanghai Futures Exchange crude oil 2611 contract closed its night session down 2.95% at 733.90 yuan per barrel. In the same session, Shanghai gold fell 1.61% and Shanghai silver dropped 6.29%.

TREE NEWS update: Morgan Stanley sold $3 billion of investment-grade bonds in two tranches just hours after posting quarterly results, with $2.5 billion in fixed-to-floating notes due in four years and callable after three. The notes are expected to yield about 0.75 percentage points over Treasuries, roughly 25 basis points tighter than initial guidance. The deal came as higher-than-expected September US inflation pushed Treasury yields sharply higher, prompting other potential issuers to hold back.

TREE NEWS reports: The Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book shows two of its 12 districts reported moderate economic growth since the previous edition, with three posting modest growth, four slight growth and three no change. Dallas’s moderate expansion was driven by strong, broad-based manufacturing gains, while six other districts saw slight-to-modest manufacturing growth and the remaining five reported little or none.

TREE NEWS reports: The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2% and the Nasdaq 100 fell 2.1%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.45%. The semiconductor index tumbled 4.32% and the banking index declined 2.3%, even as the biotech index rose 1.69%.

TREE NEWS update: The Federal Reserve will publish its Beige Book at 2:00 a.m. Beijing time. The report compiles anecdotal economic conditions from the Fed’s 12 regional districts and is released ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s policy meeting.

TREE NEWS reports: Moody’s Ratings said US private credit borrowers are avoiding defaults by deferring interest payments and extending maturities, potentially masking the extent of credit stress. The default rate among private credit borrowers Moody’s assessed was 4% in the 12 months to June, but rises to 5.8% when payment-in-kind amendments and maturity extensions are included. Recent financial statements show 17% of borrowers are using payment-in-kind, which lets companies add interest to outstanding debt instead of paying cash.

TREE NEWS update: Federal Reserve official Barkin said he has not seen AI cause mass unemployment, in remarks on the technology’s labor-market impact. The comment pushes back on concerns that rapid AI adoption is displacing workers on a broad scale. Barkin did not cite specific data or figures in the statement.

TREE NEWS update: Iran’s parliamentary speaker said Tehran’s objective is neither an “endless war” nor “protracted negotiations,” in a statement carried on the country’s official channel. The remark sets out Iran’s stated position as diplomatic and military tensions persist. No further details were provided.

TREE NEWS reports: The Federal Reserve’s overnight reverse repurchase agreement (RRP) facility took in $201 million on Wednesday, October 14, from two counterparties, down from $275 million the previous trading day. The RRP is a key tool the Fed uses to absorb excess cash from money markets.

TREE NEWS update: Japanese Agriculture Minister Ryu Wase resigned Wednesday after being accused of possible vote-buying, becoming the first minister to quit over a scandal in Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s cabinet. Takaichi, who accepted the resignation, told reporters the responsibility for the appointment was hers. She said her government must still address key challenges including a bill to cut the consumption tax, the situation in the Middle East, and budget compilation for responsible, proactive fiscal policy.

TREE NEWS update: Airbus Commercial Aircraft CEO Lars Wagner said the planemaker intends to decide “as soon as possible” on raising production of the A350 widebody, one of three key near-term decisions as competition with Boeing intensifies. Airbus is also studying a larger A350 variant and the loss-making A220, its smallest model, with decisions on both expected early in the five-year planning period.

TREE NEWS reports: International copper fell 0.89% in overnight trading, while Shanghai copper lost 0.81%, aluminum 0.96%, zinc 0.37%, lead 0.28% and nickel 0.64%. Tin was the biggest decliner, dropping 3.39%. Alumina slipped 1.59% and aluminum alloy 1.14%, with stainless steel down 0.85%.

TREE NEWS reports: London Metal Exchange copper closed $88 lower at $14,490 per tonne, with the base metals complex broadly weaker. Aluminium fell $52 to $2,988/t, zinc lost $13 to $3,718/t, lead slipped $6 to $1,896/t and nickel dropped $77 to $15,510/t. Tin posted the largest decline, down $1,321 at $50,446/t, while cobalt was unchanged at $39,345/t.

TREE NEWS reports: Bitcoin fell below $82,000 after September’s core CPI came in above forecasts, with analysts now weighing price targets and the prospect of a Fed rate hike in October. The hotter-than-expected inflation reading drove the sell-off in the largest cryptocurrency.

TREE NEWS reports: Morgan Stanley said gold could reach $5,000 an ounce, with demand offsetting pressure from interest rates. The bank’s call rests on the view that sustained buying interest will outweigh the headwind higher rates typically pose to the metal. No timeframe or revised forecast figure was given.

TREE NEWS update: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced a $21 billion investment to build two large semiconductor manufacturing plants in Malta, New York, President Trump said. Japan will provide funding for the $21 billion investment, and a separate agreement with GlobalFoundries gives US taxpayers an equity stake in the company. The Commerce Department will also invest $955 million in silicon photonics, silicon germanium and advanced packaging.

TREE NEWS update: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on the 14th that Tehran is prepared to respond to any new aggression with greater force. IRGC spokesman Mohebbi said that while a new US war against Iran is illogical, it remains highly likely, and that Washington would pay a heavier price if war breaks out. He also rejected US claims of divisions among Iranian leaders as false.

TREE NEWS reports: Germany’s two-year Bund yield fell 2.3 basis points to 3.129% on Wednesday, trading between 3.191% and 3.123%, ahead of the release of US CPI inflation data at 20:30 Beijing time. The 10-year yield slipped 0.3bp to 3.466%, briefly spiking from around 3.470% when the data landed before hitting a session high at 20:43. The 2/10-year spread widened 2.439bp to +33.529bp, while the 30-year yield rose 1.2bp to 3.827%.

TREE NEWS update: Nearly 200 representatives from Chinese and European industry and institutions attended the 2026 China-Europe Automotive Industry Development Forum during the Paris International Motor Show. European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association policy and strategy executive director Maria Linkova-Nijs said Europe’s auto industry faces a declining share of global output and sustained pressure on profit expectations, and expects deeper Europe-China cooperation to boost manufacturing competitiveness. UNECE representative François Guichard said both sides should maintain open cooperation and promote coordination and convergence of international automotive rules.