Flash News

TREE NEWS update: The Federal Reserve’s rate hike took effect as oil prices fell, sending US stocks and bonds higher. The Nasdaq rose 1.7% and the chip index gained more than 3%, while gold climbed 2%. The Bank of England held rates but signaled a hawkish stance, warning that inflation could top 4% early next year if energy shocks persist. US initial jobless claims fell to 196,000, the lowest since 1969.

TREE NEWS update: The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on 17 September allowing the State of Palestine to submit a pre-recorded address by President Mahmoud Abbas, to be played in the General Assembly Hall during the general debate of its 81st session. The resolution also permits Palestine to speak by video conference, or to submit a pre-recorded statement, at the high-level international conference on a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question and implementation of the two-state solution.

TREE NEWS update: South Korea’s finance ministry extended the country’s fuel tax cut by two months, pushing the measure through to the end of November. The ministry announced the extension without giving further details on the size of the reduction. Fuel tax relief in South Korea has been used to soften the impact of higher pump prices on households and businesses.

TREE NEWS reports: Wells Fargo is recommending selling the yen against the dollar ahead of the Bank of Japan’s decision, arguing the central bank is unlikely to meet or exceed hawkish market expectations. Asia-Pacific macro strategy head Chidu Narayanan wrote that markets already price a 25 basis point hike at every other meeting through July 2027, a bar he called hard to meet and harder to beat. The bank recommends buying USD/JPY with a target of 159 and a stop at 153.40.

TREE NEWS reports: Chinese commercial banks have markedly accelerated financial bond issuance since the start of September, with multiple lenders filing issuance announcements in the interbank market. State-owned and joint-stock banks are leading the wave while city and rural commercial banks also participate actively, across green, urban-renewal, small-business and general financial bonds. Experts say the core aim is to replenish medium- and long-term stable liabilities and ease deposit growth pressure, with issuance expected to stay elevated.

TREE NEWS update: Multiple Chinese cities have rolled out a new round of auto purchase subsidies since September. Qingdao will spend 50 million yuan on its ‘2026 Gift Autumn’ new-car subsidy starting September 10, while Zhangzhou has allocated 6.2 million yuan for subsidies running September 11 to December 31. Nanjing launched its second-round new-car promotion on September 16, ending December 31.

TREE NEWS update: US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the Saudi East-West oil pipeline damaged in a drone attack is expected to resume operations “relatively quickly.” The pipeline, which lets Saudi Arabia export oil bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, was halted after the attack on March 10. Three pump stations were hit, two with only light damage, Wright said, after earlier reports the line could take up to five weeks to repair.

TREE NEWS update: New Zealand’s trade balance for August came in at a deficit of NZ$1.349 billion, narrowing from a revised NZ$1.949 billion shortfall in the prior month. The improvement in the monthly goods trade gap reflects a smaller deficit on the year-earlier comparison.

TREE NEWS reports: New Zealand’s exports totaled NZ$6.66 billion in August, down from NZ$7.39 billion the previous month. The month-on-month decline of roughly NZ$730 million marks a slowdown in the country’s overseas goods shipments.

TREE NEWS reports: A Markets Pulse survey of 144 respondents puts the median year-end forecast for the 10-year US Treasury yield at 5.1%, a level not seen in nearly two decades. The benchmark yield is currently about 4.94%, up roughly 76 basis points this year, and respondents expect the rally that followed the September 16 Fed decision to reverse. Survey participants said such yields would pose a threat to stocks.

TREE NEWS reports: Institutional analysts say the latest Federal Reserve rate hike may differ from the start of a typical tightening cycle, and whether it will have a lasting impact on A-shares remains to be seen. With domestic macroeconomic and microeconomic fundamentals gradually recovering, they see no reason to be pessimistic on the A-share market, saying its steady upward trend is likely to continue. The AI supply chain remains driven by a medium-to-long-term narrative, with all sub-sectors worth watching.

TREE NEWS reports: Venture capital institutions in China are issuing innovation bonds with increasingly customized terms, including ultra-long-tenor AI supply-chain bonds, exchangeable bonds and privately placed bonds, as the debt market adapts to hard-tech investing’s long cycles. The sector still faces asset-liability maturity mismatches, high issuance thresholds for private institutions and limited credit-enhancement channels. Experts say market-based innovation must deepen further.

TREE NEWS update: China’s State Council Information Office will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. on Friday, September 18, at which Vice Minister and ministry spokesperson Chen Shaowang of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development will outline plans to advance high-quality development of housing and urban-rural construction during the 15th Five-Year Plan period and take questions from reporters.

TREE NEWS update: Japan releases August CPI at 07:30 Beijing time and the Bank of Japan announces its rate decision later in the day, followed by Governor Kazuo Ueda’s monetary policy press conference at 14:30. In the US, August industrial and manufacturing output land at 21:15, while Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Bowman speaks on stress testing in London at 21:15 and Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid discusses payments and banking at 23:45.

TREE NEWS update: China’s rules on online marketing of financial products, issued by eight departments including the People’s Bank of China, the National Financial Regulatory Administration and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, take effect on September 30. As of September 17, internet platforms and licensed financial institutions were accelerating self-inspections and rectification against unlicensed marketing, misleading marketing and incomplete disclosure.

TREE NEWS reports: Several Chinese fund companies said the Federal Reserve’s monetary tightening is likely to cause only short-term market disruption, pointing to the independence of China’s domestic monetary policy and supportive A-share fundamentals. They remain optimistic on the long-term outlook and recommend a “technology plus dividend” barbell allocation strategy for the current period.

TREE NEWS update: Ivory Coast plans to start operating a gold refinery in the first half of next year, Mining, Petroleum and Energy Minister Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly said Tuesday in Abidjan. State-linked Société Ivoirienne des Métaux Précieux (Simep) is expected to process up to 100 metric tons of gold a year, with refined output to be sold with assistance from New York financial services firm StoneX Group. The West African nation aims to become Africa’s largest gold producer by 2035.

TREE NEWS update: Canada has hired JPMorgan and CIBC to advise on the sale of operating rights for the country’s four busiest airports, people familiar with the matter said. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the plan to bring private investment into the government-held assets on Tuesday at an investment summit in Toronto. The airports, by passenger traffic, are Toronto Pearson International and the hubs in Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary.

TREE NEWS update: India has secured up to $12 billion in investment commitments from global and domestic investors within months of launching its new semiconductor policy. Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the pledges Thursday at a flagship chip industry event in New Delhi, saying they came from companies including chip equipment, materials and chemicals manufacturers.

TREE NEWS reports: The US government has agreed to let Iran’s leadership attend next week’s high-level UN General Assembly session in New York, despite the two countries being in a state of war, multiple US media reported on the 17th. A State Department spokesperson said the Iranian delegation will be smaller than last year’s and will face travel restrictions inside the United States.