Flash News

TREE NEWS update: Egypt’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 19%, matching market expectations. The decision leaves the key policy rate at its existing level. No further details were provided in the announcement.

TREE NEWS update: Namibia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform declared an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on September 23 and suspended all movement and import-export of cloven-hoofed animals and related products. Samples from 11 symptomatic cattle on a farm in the Karas region tested positive in 10 cases, after 63 cattle showed symptoms on September 22. The Karas region had been certified free of foot-and-mouth disease by the World Organisation for Animal Health.

TREE NEWS reports: Saudi Arabia’s oil export value fell 12.8% year-on-year to 59.888 billion riyals ($15.9 billion) in July, the lowest since May 2025, according to data released by the General Authority for Statistics on September 24. Total goods exports dropped 17.2% to 84.379 billion riyals ($22.4 billion), the lowest since June 2021, with oil’s share of exports slipping to 71% from 71.7% in June. July imports fell 15.4% to 70.015 billion riyals ($18.6 billion).

TREE NEWS reports: The selloff in global bond markets intensified, pushing the US 30-year Treasury yield to its highest level since 2004, while Japan’s 10-year government bond yield jumped 10 basis points to its highest since 1996. A Federal Reserve official said another rate hike before year-end would be “reasonable,” and Oracle fell 2.8% premarket after issuing a force majeure notice on its New Mexico data center.

TREE NEWS update: Amazon is spending about $100 million to build a robot manufacturing facility. The investment covers construction of the site, which will produce robotics hardware for the company. No location, timeline or capacity details were disclosed.

TREE NEWS reports: Global digital trade exports reached $7.75 trillion in 2025, up 7.1% year on year, according to the Global Digital Trade Development Report 2026 released at the fifth Global Digital Trade Expo. Digital trade accounted for 22.2% of total global goods and services exports, 2.6 percentage points higher than in 2021, outpacing overall global trade growth for a consecutive year.

TREE NEWS update: The Saudi-led multinational coalition said on the 24th that it intercepted and destroyed six ballistic missiles launched by Yemen’s Houthi movement, according to coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki in a social media statement. The attacks targeted the Saudi cities of Taif and Yanbu.

TREE NEWS reports: Russia’s Economy Ministry now expects GDP growth of 0.6% in 2026, up from its previous forecast of 0.4%. It also raised its 2027 Urals crude price assumption to $53 per barrel from $50, while cutting its 2027 investment growth forecast to 0.2% from 2.0%.

TREE NEWS reports: European Central Bank Governing Council member Radev said rate hikes do not mean the ECB is on a predetermined path, adding that the central bank should give its previous decisions time to take effect. He said the ECB’s task is to judge whether the energy shock will broaden, with inflation risks skewed to the upside and growth risks to the downside, and that no broad second-round effects have been seen.

TREE NEWS reports: Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, a 2027 FOMC voter, said the persistence of inflation has become more evident this summer. He added that the labor market remains stable, though new job growth is still slow.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s overseas contracted engineering projects booked 793.71 billion yuan (US$115.61 billion) in completed turnover for January-August 2026, up 5.8% year on year, or 9.9% in dollar terms. Newly signed contract value fell 3.0% to 1.17632 trillion yuan, though it edged up 0.7% to US$171.34 billion in dollar terms.

TREE NEWS update: US President Donald Trump said gasoline prices will decline, without giving a timeframe or figure. A business survey cited alongside the remark showed significant growth. No further details on the survey or its methodology were provided.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s non-financial direct investment in Belt and Road partner countries totaled 1672.4 billion yuan in the first eight months of 2026, down 11.3% year on year. In dollar terms the figure was $243.6 billion, a decline of 7.4%.

TREE NEWS update: China International Capital Corporation (CICC) Chairman Chen Liang met AllianceBernstein CEO Seth Bernstein to discuss deepening global asset management cooperation and expanding cross-border investment opportunities. The two sides witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding. The meeting was disclosed via CICC’s official WeChat account.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s outbound direct investment across all sectors totaled 778.47 billion yuan in the first eight months of 2026, down 0.6% year on year, or $113.39 billion in dollar terms, up 3.9%. Non-financial direct investment by domestic investors in 8,424 overseas enterprises across 148 countries and regions reached 595.06 billion yuan, down 14.4%, or $86.68 billion, down 10.6%.

TREE NEWS update: European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel will leave the ECB’s board ahead of schedule to take up a senior position at the International Monetary Fund. The ECB confirmed the move, which ends her term on the six-member executive board early. No date for her departure or the IMF role was given.

TREE NEWS update: Zhao Leji, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, conducted an inspection tour in Jilin and Heilongjiang from September 21 to 24. He stressed the need to more consciously and concretely practice whole-process people’s democracy, uphold, improve and operate the people’s congress system well, and do high-quality work in local people’s congresses, contributing to implementing the 15th Five-Year Plan and advancing and safeguarding local reform, development and stability.

TREE NEWS update: Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy International Trade Representative Ling Ji led a Chinese delegation in Beijing on September 23-24 for consultations with an EU team headed by Jorgensen, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security. The talks were held to prepare for the second meeting of the China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism.

TREE NEWS reports: Canada’s core retail sales fell 0.7% month over month in July, below the -0.5% forecast, after a 0.5% gain in the prior month. The reading points to weaker underlying consumer demand in Canada at the start of the third quarter.

TREE NEWS reports: The US current account deficit came in at $246.0 billion for the second quarter, narrower than the $258.1 billion economists had expected. The prior quarter’s gap was revised to $226.8 billion. The smaller-than-forecast shortfall marks a widening from the first quarter but a less severe deterioration than projected.