Flash News

TREE NEWS update: Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will lead a delegation to the United States for economic and trade consultations from September 19 to 23, China’s Commerce Ministry said. The announcement came as China’s loan prime rate stayed unchanged for a 16th straight month, and Warren Buffett formally stepped down as Berkshire Hathaway chairman, completing the handover of the company’s top governance roles after ceding the CEO post earlier this year.

TREE NEWS reports: UK Rightmove’s average asking price index for September rose 0.7% month on month, recovering from a 2% decline the previous month. The prior reading was -2%. No further details were provided.

TREE NEWS update: Russia’s Defense Ministry said on the 20th that its forces struck 146 areas over the past day, hitting transport infrastructure, ammunition and military supply warehouses, drone production and storage sites, and temporary deployment points of Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries. It said the strikes were a response to a large-scale Ukrainian drone and missile attack on Russian territory on the 19th and 20th, which it said aimed to disrupt State Duma elections, and that it will continue and intensify high-precision strikes on military targets in Kyiv.

TREE NEWS reports: The People’s Bank of China will face 272 billion yuan of maturing seven-day reverse repos during the September 21-24 week, Wind data show. Analysts said the central bank’s liquidity injections have become more flexible and precise, with sufficient scale to offset major disturbances, and expect money-market funding to cross the month- and quarter-end smoothly with market rates holding steady.

TREE NEWS reports: Chinese fund managers including Everbright Pramerica Fund and JPMorgan Asset Management have entered the ETF-FOF segment this year, expanding the ranks of issuers in the fast-growing category. Industry participants say the allocation-focused products fit the shift toward buy-side asset management, though product scale remains uneven and channel interests still need to be coordinated. They expect the category’s growth potential to widen further as these issues are resolved.

TREE NEWS update: Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, a 2027 FOMC voter, is scheduled to speak at 18:30 Beijing time. Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem will speak at 23:20 Beijing time. Both appearances are listed among the day’s key scheduled events for markets.

TREE NEWS reports: Chinese brokerage strategy reports say the A-share rebound window is likely to continue after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s 25-basis-point rate hike last week triggered a ‘bad news exhausted’ rally across major global markets, led by technology shares. With major overseas central banks’ rate decisions now settled, markets are shrugging off macro noise and industry fundamentals are expected to regain pricing power, with earnings-backed tech heavyweights seen catching up. The reports flag third-quarter earnings disclosure as the next key catalyst for a larger-scale rally.

TREE NEWS update: Iran’s military said its air-defense forces shot down and destroyed an advanced “orbital vehicle” drone over the Strait of Hormuz at 18:30 on the evening of the 20th, using a domestically developed air-defense system. The engagement took place in southeastern Iran, the army said. No further details on the drone’s origin or type were given.

TREE NEWS update: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is scheduled to speak at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, where he is expected to set out Iran’s position on international developments, particularly the US and Israeli war against Iran. A high-level delegation will accompany him, and he will hold senior meetings with other leaders on the sidelines. Trump, who speaks Tuesday, has said he is open to meeting Pezeshkian at the UNGA.

TREE NEWS reports: Saudi warplanes struck telecommunications towers in Yemen’s northern Al-Jawf province on Monday, killing four workers and wounding three others. The strikes hit towers in the Khab and Al-Shaaf areas, the broadcaster said. Saudi Arabia has not yet responded to the reports.

TREE NEWS update: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on September 20 that he spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump and that the two agreed to meet in New York. Zelensky said the meeting “could bring important changes,” adding that the diplomatic process is moving forward.

TREE NEWS update: Chancellor Friedrich Merz called the result in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern a “disaster” as the CDU’s vote share slid to about 4.9% from 13.3% in 2021, putting it at risk of falling below the 5% threshold and losing representation in a state parliament for the first time since World War II. The far-right Alternative for Germany more than doubled its support to roughly 38%, becoming the state’s strongest party. The CDU also suffered a heavy defeat in Berlin’s state election the same evening, where the Left party took first place.

TREE NEWS update: French President Emmanuel Macron said on the 20th that France supports an agenda of closer alignment between Canada and the EU, and backs Canada becoming an EU “associate member.” Speaking in Saint-Pierre alongside visiting Canadian Prime Minister Carney, Macron said it was the first official visit by a Canadian prime minister to Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, with the two countries set to deepen cooperation in fisheries, security and energy.

TREE NEWS update: Germany’s far-right AfD is projected to win 37% of the vote in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s state election on September 20, ahead of the Social Democrats at 35.5%. Chancellor Merz’s CDU is projected at 5.5%, barely clearing the threshold for state parliament entry — its worst result in any state election since 1949. Other major parties have refused to work with the AfD, making its chances of governing the state minimal.

TREE NEWS reports: Wall Street banks expect the US to borrow about $1 trillion through short-term Treasury bills over the next year to meet rising government funding needs. Bank of America projects roughly $1.07 trillion in net new borrowing for the fiscal year ending September 2027, JPMorgan sees about $1.09 trillion in bill issuance in 2027, and Goldman Sachs estimates $961 billion. The shift comes as long-term US borrowing costs hit their highest since 2007.

TREE NEWS update: Chinese and US trade teams began economic and trade consultations in New York on the morning of September 20 local time. The two sides opened the talks as the latest round in their ongoing negotiations. No further details on the agenda or participants were given.

TREE NEWS reports: An explosion occurred near Erbil airport in Iraq on the 20th. The airport hosts US military forces. No further details on casualties or damage were immediately available.

TREE NEWS update: Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said the Federal Reserve’s job is to bring the inflation rate back down to its 2% target. Inflation remains too high, and that is not driven by oil prices alone, he said.

TREE NEWS reports: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said the Fed’s mandate is to bring inflation back to its 2% target, adding that inflation remains too high and is not driven by oil prices alone. Kashkari said he hopes for support from other parts of government and the real economy, and noted investment demand is very strong, which tends to push interest rates higher.

TREE NEWS update: US President Donald Trump said on the 20th that Washington remains in communication with Yemen’s Houthi movement and that the group has agreed not to engage in hostilities with the United States. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News Channel. No further details on the contacts were given.