Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: US sector ETFs closed mostly lower on Wednesday, September 30, with consumer staples ETFs down more than 1.5% and healthcare, industrials, global airlines and financials ETFs falling as much as 1.35%. Global tech, internet and semiconductor ETFs gained up to 0.35%, while the technology sector ETF rose 0.64%. For the first nine months of the year, the semiconductor ETF gained 69.11%, with global tech, energy, technology and biotech ETFs up at least 24.86%, while the consumer discretionary ETF fell 8.29%.

TREE NEWS update: US President Donald Trump said South Korea is securing lower US tariffs on its goods by investing in the United States. The remarks tie tariff relief directly to Korean investment commitments, framing the arrangement as a trade-off rather than a unilateral concession. No figures, timelines or specific investment amounts were given in the statement.

TREE NEWS reports: The Bloomberg Electric Vehicle Price Return Index rose 0.71% on Wednesday, September 30, closing at 3,148.88 points. The gauge fell 9.95% over September and 11.23% across the third quarter, extending a broad downtrend.

TREE NEWS reports: On Wednesday, September 30, US real estate ETFs fell 0.99% and emerging market ETFs dropped 0.91%, leading declines among major US asset-class ETFs; the Dow ETF lost 0.84%. The US Brent crude oil fund gained 2.28% on the day and is up 112.18% year-to-date through September, while the Nasdaq 100 ETF rose 0.25%.

TREE NEWS reports: Wells Fargo said it is bearish on the US dollar in the coming months as the US midterm elections approach. The bank cited the looming vote as a factor behind its outlook for the currency. No further details or targets were given.

TREE NEWS reports: The US dollar rose past 157.5 against the Japanese yen, trading at 157.511 and up 0.1% over 24 hours. The move extends the greenback’s advance in the currency pair.

TREE NEWS update: Constellation Energy signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Amazon, sending the nuclear power producer’s US shares up 3.5% in after-hours trading. Terms of the deal were not disclosed in the material.

TREE NEWS reports: In the third quarter, the S&P 500 gained about 2.5%, the Dow Jones fell 2.5% and the Nasdaq rose 2.5%, while the Nasdaq 100 added 0.5%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 11% and a memory-chip gauge fell 19%, but the Magnificent Seven tech index climbed 12.4%. On Sept. 30 the S&P 500 closed down 0.2%, with tech up 0.7% and consumer staples, real estate, industrials, health care and financials down as much as 1.5%.

TREE NEWS update: US President Donald Trump said Jerome Powell, who has already stepped down as Federal Reserve chair, should be forced to resign from the Fed’s Board of Governors. Trump also said he has asked the Attorney General to look into reports concerning the Federal Reserve. Powell’s status on the board and the scope of the requested review were not detailed.

TREE NEWS update: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the launch of the “Meridian Project,” an initiative to study the shape of future warfare. The project will be jointly led by three top American figures: Elon Musk, Newt Gingrich and Palmer Luckey. No further details on the program’s scope or timeline were disclosed.

TREE NEWS reports: The yen rose 3.21% against the dollar in the third quarter, with USD/JPY ending September at 157.34 in New York on Sept. 30 after a 1.50% monthly decline. The pair traded between 163.99 and 152.89 over the period, hitting its quarterly low on Sept. 8. The yen also gained 2.11% against the offshore yuan, while the euro fell 3.98% and sterling 3.18% against the Japanese currency.

TREE NEWS update: A US judge has ruled to allow Paramount Skydance to complete its acquisition of Warner Bros. The court decision removes a legal obstacle to the deal, clearing the way for the transaction to close. No further details on the ruling’s terms or timing were provided.

TREE NEWS update: Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said inflation remains “too high and too persistent” and reaffirmed her commitment to returning it to the central bank’s 2% target. In prepared remarks Wednesday for an event in Asheville, North Carolina, hosted by the Richmond Fed, Cook said US inflation has exceeded 2% for more than five years. Earlier in September, she voted with the FOMC to raise the benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%–4%.

TREE NEWS update: NASA, the Canadian Space Agency and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) signed a statement of intent to launch research into how crops can be grown on the Moon. The three agencies will jointly explore lunar plant cultivation, a step toward sustaining crews on long-duration missions. No timeline or funding figures were disclosed.

TREE NEWS reports: The ICE US Dollar Index rose 0.10% to 101.477 in late New York trade on Wednesday, September 30, closing the month up 2.06%. The index has climbed steadily since falling to 98.599 on September 9, with a third-quarter gain of 0.29% and a trading range of 98.557-101.640. The Bloomberg Dollar Index added 0.05% to 1218.96, up 1.92% in September but down 0.26% for the quarter.

TREE NEWS reports: CBOT corn futures fell 3.98% to $5.0125 a bushel on Wednesday after the USDA’s agricultural stocks report, while the Bloomberg Grains Subindex dropped 2.14% to 33.0376 points. Corn still gained 13.53% over the third quarter, with soymeal up 17.78%, soybeans 12.33%, wheat 11.11% and soyoil 1.58%; Q3 livestock futures fell, with lean hogs down 7.44% and live cattle 5.74%.

TREE NEWS update: PJM International LLC, the largest US grid operator, has suspended plans for new power auctions aimed at data centers. The operator halted the planned auction process for the new data center load, with no timeline given for a restart. The move affects how new data center electricity demand would be procured through PJM’s auction mechanism.

TREE NEWS reports: The onshore yuan closed at 6.7050 per US dollar at 03:00 Beijing time, up 15 pips from Thursday’s overnight close. Turnover for the session was $27.693 billion.

TREE NEWS reports: The Hang Seng Index main futures contract closed its night session down 0.69% at 24,422 points. The Hang Seng Tech Index futures night session fell 0.59% to 4,233 points.

TREE NEWS update: Colombia’s central bank raised its lending rate to 12.25% from 12%, it announced. The increase of 25 basis points lifts the benchmark policy rate to its new level, with the decision disclosed without further detail on the vote or the policy path ahead. The move marks a tightening step by the Banco de la República.