Flash News

TREE NEWS update: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico has made progress in trade negotiations with the United States. She gave no further details on the state of the talks or on any specific terms under discussion. The comment comes as the two countries continue working-level discussions on trade.

TREE NEWS reports: Bank of America strategist Savita Subramanian said S&P 500 third-quarter earnings will grow 32% year over year, above the 27% consensus estimate. She said the market backdrop into earnings season “has been good,” with Q3 estimates revised up 1% over the past three months and corporate guidance “unusually strong.” Subramanian called the Q3 macro environment “broadly good” but noted the dollar has “turned into a mild headwind.”

TREE NEWS reports: Kazakhstan’s central bank is selling gold and plans to cut the metal’s share of its total foreign exchange reserves by about 3 percentage points by the end of this year, Deputy Governor Aliya Moldabekova said. She said rising US Treasury yields have made the dollar an attractive option, reducing gold’s appeal as an investment asset, and added that the bank had not seen such levels in a long time.

TREE NEWS update: US President Donald Trump said he made the right choice for the American people on Russia and energy issues. The remark, delivered as a statement on the two topics, offered no further detail on policy measures or timing. Trump did not specify any new action tied to Russia sanctions or US energy policy.

TREE NEWS update: Beijing’s Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources released the “Opinions on Improving the Quality of Residential Public Space (Trial)” today. The document calls for raised-slab design to be prioritized on residential land with terrain elevation differences, along waterfronts, or at rail “micro-centers,” and sets rules on connecting communities with urban space, calculating technical indicators, composite use of three-dimensional space, and creating open urban space.

TREE NEWS update: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji in Moscow on December 12, Russia’s foreign ministry said, marking the Lebanese foreign minister’s first visit to Moscow in nearly five years. Lavrov reiterated Russia’s support for safeguarding Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

TREE NEWS update: Yemen’s Houthi movement said it carried out four military operations with missiles and drones against airports and energy facilities inside Saudi Arabia in the past 24 hours. The Saudi-led coalition confirmed Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport was attacked again on Wednesday, a day after a strike there caused heavy casualties. The coalition said it will respond firmly to the attacks.

TREE NEWS update: The 25th World Petroleum Congress opened on October 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under the theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All.” The four-day event, running through October 15, focuses on global energy security, energy markets, technological innovation and the energy transition. Some sessions have been moved online.

TREE NEWS reports: The secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) came in at 3.87% for the October 8 trading day, down 1 basis point from 3.88% the previous day. The effective federal funds rate held at 3.88% over the same period.

TREE NEWS reports: Uganda’s shilling fell to its weakest level since 1993, pressured by outflows from the country’s bond market. The currency’s slide marks its lowest point in more than three decades, with the decline attributed to foreign investors pulling money out of Ugandan debt. No further figures were immediately available.

TREE NEWS update: An explosion near Israel’s northern border with Lebanon on the 12th killed one person and wounded 19, most of them Israeli teachers and students on a hike, Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said. A preliminary investigation indicates the blast was caused by unexploded ordnance left in the area.

TREE NEWS update: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Russian presidential aide and Maritime Board chairman Nikolai Patrushev in Beijing on October 12, 2026. Wang, a Politburo member and head of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office, held the talks with Patrushev, who also chairs Russia’s Maritime Board. No further details of the meeting were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: The Central Bank of Congo said the country will increase its gold reserves from 3 tonnes to 5 tonnes by the end of the year. The buildup lifts the central bank’s holdings by roughly two-thirds, with the additional metal to be added before the year closes.

TREE NEWS update: Zhao Leji, chairman of China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee, held talks in Beijing on the 12th with Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and co-chaired the second meeting of the China-Vietnam Legislative Joint Committee. Zhao said the NPC is ready to work with Vietnam’s National Assembly to implement the consensus of both countries’ top leaders and improve legislative exchange, supervision experience sharing and a fair, transparent business environment.

TREE NEWS reports: US sector ETFs opened mixed on the day, with the energy ETF up 1.5% and the regional banks ETF up nearly 1%. The semiconductor ETF fell 1.65% in early trading, leading declines among the main industry funds.

TREE NEWS reports: The Dow rose 0.2% and the S&P 500 added 0.1% while the Nasdaq slipped 0.1% in early US trading. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 1.9%, led by memory chip names: Micron dropped about 4%, SanDisk about 4%, SK Hynix about 3% and Western Digital about 2%. Starbucks gained 1% after a spokesperson denied the company is considering acquiring Chipotle, which fell 2.9%.

TREE NEWS reports: The S&P 500 opened up 1.50 points, or 0.02%, at 7,813.04, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened 110.40 points, or 0.21%, higher at 51,765.35. The Nasdaq Composite opened down 13.66 points, or 0.05%, at 27,352.51.

TREE NEWS reports: Euronext corn futures rose as much as 1.3% intraday, the largest gain in a week. Paris wheat futures also advanced, touching €244.75 a tonne, supported by the return of major importer Algeria to the market. The moves reflect renewed demand from a key buyer in North Africa.

TREE NEWS reports: The Shanghai Futures Exchange’s fuel oil front-month contract rose 6% to 5,396 yuan per tonne. The sharp move marks one of the largest single-day gains in the contract, though no specific catalyst was cited in the market data.

TREE NEWS update: On Oct. 12, the Shanghai Futures Exchange (including its subsidiary INE), the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, the Dalian Commodity Exchange and the Guangzhou Futures Exchange simultaneously published draft amendments to their violation-handling rules for public comment. All four propose new provisions targeting six specific categories of breaches of programmatic trading management.