Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: US stock index futures continued to climb, with Nasdaq futures extending gains to 1%. The move reflects sustained upward momentum in equity futures trading.

TREE NEWS reports: The South Korean won’s advance against the US dollar widened to 1% on the day. The move marks an extension of the currency’s gains versus the greenback, with the won strengthening by that margin in the session.

TREE NEWS reports: The onshore yuan closed at 6.6955 per US dollar at 16:30 Beijing time, up 18 pips from the previous official close and 29 pips from the prior overnight close.

TREE NEWS update: Xibei founder Jia Guolong called on regulators to further clarify the speech boundaries of high-traffic online accounts, speaking at a conference on September 20. Citing what he described as Xibei’s painful lesson, Jia urged that normal public-opinion supervision and debate of views be distinguished from malicious disparagement, commercial defamation and online soft violence.

TREE NEWS reports: The European Central Bank said in its economic report Monday that surging natural gas prices could feed into eurozone inflation faster than in the past, though the impact on electricity prices will be relatively smaller as renewables take a larger share of generation. European wholesale gas prices TRNLTTFMc1 have jumped more than 140% year-on-year amid tighter global supply tied to the Iran war, while low European storage levels raise the risk of further increases. A survey of eurozone central banks found gas wholesale price changes pass through to gas inflation within one to three months in more than half of eurozone countries, faster than in 2022.

TREE NEWS update: South Korean presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik tendered his resignation to President Lee Jae-myung on the morning of the 21st, the presidential office’s senior secretary for public communication, Sung Ki-hong, said at a press briefing the same day. Lee has not yet decided whether to accept the resignation and is expected to make the call after wrapping up a trip to the United States and Mexico on the 27th.

TREE NEWS update: India’s trade minister said the India-New Zealand trade agreement will allow 100% of Indian exports to enter New Zealand tariff-free. The statement covers the full range of Indian goods shipped to the New Zealand market, which will face no duties under the deal.

TREE NEWS reports: Cai Fang, former vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said at the 7th National Pension Development Forum that the dividends from reform and artificial intelligence have no ceiling and can offset the dependency pressure brought by population aging. He said the pressure of an aging population must be acknowledged while the role of rising labor productivity is fully considered. Pension sustainability should be assessed by combining demographic change with productivity growth.

TREE NEWS update: Russia’s ruling United Russia party leads the State Duma election with 57.83% of the vote, Central Election Commission chair Ella Pamfilova said at a press conference on September 21, citing preliminary results. The figure puts the party ahead in the race for the ninth State Duma, the lower house of parliament.

TREE NEWS update: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said China’s position on safeguarding the stability and security of global critical minerals supply chains remains unchanged, while defending export controls on dual-use items. Speaking at a regular press briefing, Guo said China lawfully bans exports to Japanese military users, for military purposes, or for any use that would boost Japan’s military strength, aiming to halt Japan’s “remilitarization” and nuclear ambitions.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s top 10 MPV manufacturers sold 528,000 vehicles in the first eight months of 2024, accounting for 79% of total MPV sales, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on September 21. Great Wall Motor and Geely Auto posted growth versus a year earlier, while Chery renewed its push into the segment; the other companies saw declines.

TREE NEWS update: The Guangzhou Futures Exchange will widen daily price limits and raise trading margin requirements for several contracts effective the settlement on Sept. 29, 2026, ahead of the National Day holiday. Industrial silicon futures will move to a 10% limit with speculative margin at 12% and hedging margin at 11%. Polysilicon, lithium carbonate, and platinum and palladium contracts will see limits of 11%, 15%, and 16% respectively.

TREE NEWS update: Japan will relax lending restrictions on regional banks to allow more financing in the AI and energy sectors. The move is intended to expand the lending capacity of regional lenders into these growth areas. Details of the eased rules and their effective date were not disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on the 21st that it shot down and destroyed a US MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz. No further details on the incident were provided in the announcement. The strait is a key global oil transit chokepoint.

TREE NEWS reports: Indonesia’s central bank attributed the rupiah’s depreciation to high oil prices and their impact on global inflation and fiscal prospects. The bank said it will continue to intervene in the foreign exchange market to ensure market mechanisms run smoothly.

TREE NEWS update: Novo Nordisk said it plans to launch more than five blockbuster products by 2030, with pipeline sales exceeding DKK 150 billion by 2035. The Danish drugmaker also aims to expand capacity by 2030 to serve 10 times as many obesity patients using oral GLP-1 treatments. It expects to keep its adjusted operating margin broadly stable through 2030 and maintain an attractive dividend per share.

TREE NEWS update: China Southern Airlines resumed its scheduled passenger service between Guangzhou and New Delhi on September 21, restarting the India route after a six-year suspension. With the route back in operation, the carrier will run more than 100 weekly flights across its eight round-trip routes in South Asia, counting one round trip as two flights.

TREE NEWS reports: In US premarket trading, major technology shares traded mixed. Meta rose more than 2%, while SK Hynix, Tesla and Micron Technology each gained over 1%. Apple slipped 0.2%.

TREE NEWS reports: The London Metal Exchange reported changes in its warehouse stocks across base metals. Lead inventories fell 900 tonnes and nickel dropped 300 tonnes, while zinc rose 1,550 tonnes and copper gained 775 tonnes. Aluminium stocks declined 400 tonnes and tin slipped 75 tonnes.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Sept. 21 that Beijing has lodged concerns with Japan over the deployment of the U.S. Typhon mid-range missile system in Kyushu and urged Tokyo to deeply reflect on its history of aggression and stop any attempt at “remilitarization.” The statement followed Russia’s Sept. 18 diplomatic note to Japan opposing the deployment and calling on Tokyo to fully recognize the outcome of World War II.