Flash News

TREE NEWS update: Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to a high-level dialogue marking the fifth anniversary of the Global Development Initiative, Xinhua reported. The letter was addressed to the meeting held to mark the initiative’s five-year milestone. No further details of the letter’s contents were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: National Grid has received a US Department of Energy grant to deploy advanced technology on the New England transmission grid. The funding supports grid modernization work on the regional network. No grant amount, deployment timeline or specific technology was disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: Iran’s president said Tehran is willing to restore the Islamabad Memorandum and honor the commitments tied to it. The statement, issued without a date or further conditions, signals a possible return to the framework. No details were given on timing or the specific obligations involved.

TREE NEWS reports: US President Donald Trump may announce a diesel-related policy as early as Friday. No details of the measures or their scope were given. The timing places the potential announcement at the end of this week.

TREE NEWS update: EU Energy Commissioner warned member state ministers that Europe faces a supply-driven energy price crisis, with gas storage at abnormally low levels. The commissioner said the EU is better prepared than in winter 2021 thanks to new LNG capacity, renewables and lower gas demand, but proposed extra measures to sustain storage injections or cut gas and power demand, including bans on outdoor heating and limits on public building temperatures.

TREE NEWS reports: The Hang Seng Index main futures contract closed down 0.09% at 24,501 in the night session. The Hang Seng Tech Index main futures contract closed up 0.12% at 4,320 in the same session.

TREE NEWS update: Iranian sources cited by Fars News said Al Jazeera’s report of a new round of US-Iran negotiations is “inaccurate.” The sources said Western media reports of resumed talks are “manufactured news” aimed mainly at influencing markets and oil prices. They also disputed a claim by Al Jazeera’s Tehran bureau chief that Iranian technical experts had traveled to New York to join the talks.

TREE NEWS reports: WTI November crude settled down $2.20, or more than 2.32%, at $92.41 a barrel, posting a weekly loss of nearly 3.82%. Middle East Abu Dhabi Murban crude fell 4.79% to $111.97 a barrel, down 5.05% on the week. NYMEX October natural gas settled at $3.1960 per million British thermal units, with October gasoline at $3.3934 a gallon and heating oil at $4.6847 a gallon.

TREE NEWS update: Blackstone’s global head of private equity, Baratta, is leaving the firm. The departure marks a leadership change at the top of the world’s largest alternative asset manager’s flagship private equity business. No successor or timing was immediately disclosed.

TREE NEWS reports: Germany has discussed with industry the idea of imposing mandatory natural-gas storage filling quotas next year, after a slow summer refill season. The plan could set minimum injection quotas for utilities, power plant operators or traders, requiring them to hold set volumes of gas by specified deadlines to ensure adequate buffer stocks before winter. German storage facilities are currently only 57% full, low for this time of year.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Vice President Han Zheng met Ghanaian President John Mahama in New York on September 25, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The meeting took place during Han’s attendance at the UNGA session. No further details of the talks were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in New York on September 25, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The meeting took place during Han’s attendance at the annual UN gathering. No further details of the discussions were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: European Central Bank Vice President Boris Vujcic said the ECB has already started a tightening cycle. He also said crude oil prices appear set to fall, while refined product prices will not.

TREE NEWS update: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said all terrorist attacks originating from Afghan territory must stop completely, in a statement issued on the cross-border militancy issue. He framed the demand as a requirement for the two countries’ relations, without specifying any deadline or measure attached to it. No response from Afghan authorities was cited in the statement.

TREE NEWS update: Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack said the biggest risk facing the economy is inflation. Hammack made the remark in comments on the policy outlook, flagging price pressures as the central bank’s primary concern. The statement came as markets weigh the path of US interest rates.

TREE NEWS reports: Brent crude speculators cut their net long position by 64,543 contracts in the week to September 22, leaving it at 218,114 contracts, Intercontinental Exchange data show. Diesel speculators reduced their net long position by 3,835 contracts to 90,831 contracts over the same week.

TREE NEWS update: The United States is holding “positive and constructive” talks with Iran after Tehran proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz and restarting negotiations if the offer is accepted, a US official said. Washington is in no rush to reach a deal given its advantageous position, the official added, noting that nearly 40 million barrels of crude oil passed through the Strait under US escort in the past 48 hours.

TREE NEWS reports: Water levels on the Rhine in Germany fell to a historic low on September 25, dropping to 2 centimeters at the critical shipping chokepoint near Kaub — 5 centimeters below the previous record set on August 17. Germany’s Rhine waterway and shipping authority said the situation remains tense, with gauges in North Rhine-Westphalia, including Düsseldorf and Duisburg-Ruhrort, also expected to hit record lows in coming days.

TREE NEWS reports: The Federal Reserve’s overnight reverse repurchase agreement (RRP) facility saw $576 million in usage on Friday, September 25, across three counterparties, down from $630 million the previous trading day. The RRP facility is a key tool the Fed uses to absorb excess liquidity from money markets.

TREE NEWS reports: UK two-year gilt yields fell 7.1 basis points to 4.839% on Friday, September 25, after a gap lower and choppy trade that briefly approached 4.9%. The 10-year yield slipped 1.5bps to 5.366%, retreating late in the session in line with lower international oil prices, and held near the September 14 high of 5.434%. The 10-year rose 7.1bps over the week, while the 2s/10s spread widened 5.459bps to +52.526bps.