Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: Japan’s Nikkei 225 opened 0.27% higher, while South Korea’s Kospi Composite opened up 0.08%. The two benchmark indexes started the session in positive territory.

TREE NEWS update: China is set to issue or is currently issuing local government bonds. The notice did not specify the size, timing or purpose of the issuance. Local government bonds are a key financing tool for regional infrastructure and public projects.

TREE NEWS reports: Foreign investors net sold ¥67.5 billion of Japanese equities in the week ended October 23, extending the prior week’s net selling of ¥66.5 billion. The back-to-back outflow marks a second consecutive week of net foreign selling in Japanese stocks.

TREE NEWS update: Dutch Prime Minister Jelte announced in The Hague on the 28th that the Netherlands will provide €500 million in military aid to Ukraine, including air defense systems and drones. The announcement followed his meeting with visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Dutch government also said it will provide €1.2 billion in non-military aid over the next three years for energy, drinking water, humanitarian assistance and healthcare.

TREE NEWS update: UK Chancellor John Healey announced an additional £10 billion in economic and military aid to Ukraine during the new government’s first budget speech in the House of Commons on the 28th. The package includes loans, export finance guarantees and £500 million in emergency military funding for this winter. Healey and Prime Minister Burnham informed Ukrainian President Zelensky of the commitment earlier that day.

TREE NEWS reports: Nineteen A-share lithium battery companies had disclosed 2026 third-quarter reports as of Oct. 27, posting combined revenue of 620.37 billion yuan and combined net profit attributable to shareholders of 75.05 billion yuan. Profit recovery is spreading along a chain from copper foil to structural components to some battery makers, with copper foil firms showing multiple-fold growth on higher capacity utilization, while leader CATL’s profit growth lagged its revenue growth and tail-end firms hovered near break-even.

TREE NEWS update: The Federal Reserve kept its federal funds target range at 3.75%-4.00%, with voters Cook and Hammack dissenting in favor of a 25-basis-point hike. The Bank of Canada raised its policy rate by 25 basis points to 2.5%, its first increase in more than three years, citing the risk that high energy prices spread into other goods and services and flagging that further hikes may be needed.

TREE NEWS update: U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a future Federal Reserve rate hike would not necessarily be a policy error, citing strong economic growth, after the Fed held rates steady on Wednesday following a September increase. Bessent reiterated confidence in Fed Chair Kevin Warsh and called on policymakers to keep an “open mind” on energy-shock inflation possibly being “transitory,” adding that the bond market has already done much of the tightening.

TREE NEWS reports: Hong Kong Monetary Authority has again encouraged banks to support property developers’ refinancing to prevent further setbacks in the commercial real estate market. The HKMA recently held meetings with the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong and banks to discuss debt maturities facing some developers, including mid-sized firms with assets but limited cash flow. An HKMA spokesperson said the authority communicates with banks and stakeholders from time to time but does not comment on the specifics.

TREE NEWS reports: US Vice President JD Vance has sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei aimed at restarting negotiations, the Wall Street Journal reported on the 28th. The letter was sent at President Trump’s direction, and Trump was aware of the contact. The exchange did not cover details of a peace plan, focusing instead on a possible negotiating framework, in a bid to persuade Trump not to order a strike on Iran in the coming weeks.

TREE NEWS update: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority kept its base rate unchanged at 4.25% after the U.S. Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight. The city’s de facto central bank moves in lockstep with the Fed under its linked exchange rate system, so the decision tracks the overnight U.S. pause.

TREE NEWS update: Shanghai Chengqi Private Fund Management and Shenzhen Hanrong Private Securities Fund Management both announced self-purchases of their own fund products on Oct. 27, with Chengqi planning to deploy 100 million yuan of its own capital across its private securities funds. At least eight private fund managers had announced self-purchases in October as of Oct. 27, totaling 220 million yuan, while at least 35 have done so year-to-date for more than 1.8 billion yuan.

TREE NEWS reports: Seven Chinese brokerages and four brokerage parent companies had disclosed first-three-quarter results by Oct. 28. Only CITIC Securities and Huaxi Securities posted year-on-year growth in both revenue and net profit, while several smaller peers came under pressure. Guoyuan Securities and Dongxing Securities saw revenue dip slightly, though net profit attributable to shareholders rose 3.36% and 0.75% respectively. Jianghai, Xinda and Northeast Securities grew revenue but posted lower net profit than a year earlier.

TREE NEWS reports: TD Securities said the Australian dollar/New Zealand dollar cross is at an attractive level to short, citing seasonality and converging central bank policy rates. Strategists including Howard Du wrote that the kiwi’s drop after the RBNZ unexpectedly held rates offered a good entry, with the RBNZ still possibly hiking three times across December, February and March 2027. TD expects the pair near 1.22 within two months and bought 2-month AUD/NZD put spreads at 1.2350 and 1.22 for its model portfolio.

TREE NEWS reports: Electronic cloth prices have reached a near-decade high, and industry insiders expect another increase in November as supply and demand remain in a tight balance. Demand from AI servers, high-speed switches and automotive PCBs has driven consecutive price rises this year. Market talk of reducing or eliminating cloth in copper-clad laminates and PCBs stems mainly from cost pressure, insiders said, adding that electronic cloth retains advantages in many areas.

TREE NEWS reports: Several Chinese securities firms and their offshore business platforms have received upgrades to their international ratings this year, covering both ESG and credit ratings, with attention focused on their operating strength, risk management and cross-border service capabilities. The brokerages also posted earnings growth, with overseas equity financing and RMB bond projects continuing to land. Analysts said the rating changes reflect institutions’ combined assessment of brokerage operating quality, the industry environment and external support.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s 31 provincial-level regions have released their first three quarters economic results, with major economic provinces continuing to anchor national growth and several posting expansions faster than the national rate. New growth drivers are accelerating and new quality productive forces are being cultivated faster, while experts say expanding domestic demand and stabilizing expectations remain necessary to sustain full-year growth.

TREE NEWS reports: Petrobras reported third-quarter oil and gas production of 3.512 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. The figure covers the Brazilian state-controlled oil major’s combined crude and natural gas output for the quarter.

TREE NEWS update: The European Central Bank releases its policy rates at 21:15 Beijing time, with President Christine Lagarde holding a press conference at 21:45. Earlier in the day, the US publishes preliminary third-quarter GDP, September PCE and weekly jobless claims at 20:30, while the Bank of Ukraine sets rates at 20:00. Amazon, Intel, SanDisk and Strategy report after the US close.

TREE NEWS reports: Banks are postponing the sale of bonds intended to refinance part of a $15 billion loan that funds a data center linked to Anthropic PBC near Hubbard, Texas, after the state paused new project approvals to assess grid risk. Lenders led by Morgan Stanley had aimed to sell $5 billion-$7 billion to high-yield investors in September; the sale may now be split over the coming year. The package includes a $14.2 billion one-year loan and a $1.4 billion five-year revolver.