Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: Eurozone consumer confidence held at -17.9 in October, the final reading confirmed, matching both the preliminary estimate and economist expectations. The indicator stayed unchanged from its flash reading of -17.9, showing sentiment remained at the same level.

TREE NEWS reports: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will step down ahead of the end of her term. No date or reason for the early departure was given in the initial account. Lagarde has led the ECB since 2019, steering eurozone monetary policy through the post-pandemic inflation surge and successive interest-rate cycles.

TREE NEWS reports: UBS lowered its 12-month target for South Korea’s KOSPI index to 7,500 from 8,000, reflecting concerns that a stronger won is eroding corporate earnings. The revision was disclosed on Oct. 29. The bank’s move points to currency-driven pressure on Korean exporters’ profitability.

TREE NEWS update: The People’s Bank of China and the Central Bank of Chile renewed their bilateral local-currency swap agreement, keeping the facility at 500 billion yuan/6 trillion Chilean pesos, the PBOC said. The renewed agreement is valid for five years. The PBOC said the renewal will deepen monetary and financial cooperation, facilitate bilateral trade and investment, and help maintain financial market stability.

TREE NEWS update: The Communist Party of China Central Committee will hold a press conference on the morning of the 30th to present and interpret the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. The briefing is scheduled to take place on the morning of October 30.

TREE NEWS update: The 21st National Congress of the Communist Party of China will be held in Beijing in the second half of 2027. The gathering is the party’s highest-level meeting, held roughly every five years to set leadership and policy direction. No specific dates or agenda items were given.

TREE NEWS update: The Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing from October 26 to 29, 2026. The meeting was convened in the Chinese capital over the four-day period.

TREE NEWS update: Iran’s armed forces will keep the Strait of Hormuz closed until all of Tehran’s conditions are fully met, an Iranian military spokesman said, adding that the waterway is under the strategic control of Iran’s armed forces. The spokesman, Akraminia, said the United States’ real aim is to secure Israeli regional hegemony, and that Washington first sought to destroy Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities before moving to topple the Iranian government.

TREE NEWS update: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on October 29 that the upcoming trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine talks will not include the European Union, adding that Moscow is not yet clear on what position the EU holds. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said on October 28 that Russia does not plan to invite Europe to the Ukraine talks and that the date of the trilateral meeting will be announced soon. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on October 28 that Kyiv is waiting for Washington to fix the date and hopes the meeting can be held before November 10.

TREE NEWS reports: UK consumer credit rose by £1.914 billion in September, below the £2 billion forecast and down from £2.5 billion in the prior month, Bank of England data showed. The smaller increase points to slower growth in household borrowing at the start of autumn.

TREE NEWS reports: UK M4 money supply grew 0.1% month-on-month in September, slowing from a 0.4% increase in the previous month. The reading marks a deceleration in broad money growth for the period.

TREE NEWS reports: UK M4 money supply excluding intermediate other financial corporations rose at a 3-month annualized rate of 1.6% in September, down from 2.8% in the prior period. The reading points to slower growth in a broad measure of money and credit in the UK economy.

TREE NEWS reports: UK mortgage approvals for September came in at 53,400, below the 54,000 expected and down from 54,900 in the prior month. The Bank of England figure points to a modest cooling in mortgage demand at the start of autumn. The prior-month reading was 54,900.

TREE NEWS reports: The UK 10-year government bond yield fell 3 basis points to 5.29% on Wednesday, touching its lowest level in five weeks. The move extends a decline in long-dated gilt yields.

TREE NEWS reports: Qatar submitted a new draft agreement to Iran on Oct. 25 aimed at ending hostilities between Iran, the United States and Israel, as mediators including Qatar sought to bridge US-Iran differences over ceasefire priorities. Iranian officials called the new proposal “unacceptable” on Oct. 28, but Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran has not abandoned consultations with the mediators.

TREE NEWS reports: Copper inventories at the London Metal Exchange rose 750 tonnes to 272,200 tonnes, the exchange reported. Aluminium stocks fell 225 tonnes to 231,675 tonnes, while zinc dropped 1,950 tonnes to 162,675 tonnes. Nickel slipped 24 tonnes to 278,790 tonnes, lead declined 1,150 tonnes to 311,525 tonnes and tin eased 15 tonnes to 4,020 tonnes.

TREE NEWS update: The White House is negotiating an interim peace agreement with Iran, the first confirmed diplomatic push toward a temporary settlement between Washington and Tehran. No timeline, terms or participants beyond the White House were disclosed. The talks, if concluded, would mark a rare formal interim accord between the two governments.

TREE NEWS update: The sixth meeting of the Joint Committee under the Agreement on Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and the Eurasian Economic Union was held in Qingdao. The meeting was co-chaired by Li Chenggang, China’s Trade Representative (ministerial level) and Vice Minister of Commerce, and Andrey Slepnev, Trade Commissioner of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

TREE NEWS reports: Italy’s unemployment rate fell to 6.15% in September, below the 6.2% expected by economists and down from the prior reading of 6.2%. The reading marks a modest improvement in the Italian labor market for the month.

TREE NEWS reports: The weighted average interest rate on newly issued corporate loans in Shanghai stood at 2.55% in September, down 17 basis points from a year earlier and at a historic low, the People’s Bank of China Shanghai Head Office said at its fourth-quarter 2026 press conference. The weighted average rate on loans to small and micro enterprises fell 25 basis points year on year to 2.75%.