Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: The London Metal Exchange reported daily warehouse stock changes: tin fell 25 tonnes, zinc rose 1,575 tonnes, lead dropped 2,750 tonnes, aluminium declined 1,000 tonnes, nickel was unchanged and copper increased 1,750 tonnes. The figures cover LME-registered inventories.

TREE NEWS update: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on September 16 that Ukraine’s overall position on a so-called energy ceasefire has not changed, adding that Moscow does not avoid contacts. US President Donald Trump said on September 14 that Russia and Ukraine had agreed not to strike each other’s energy targets. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to visit the United States from September 21 to 23 to discuss the energy ceasefire with Trump.

TREE NEWS update: King Charles III will press senior AI figures to guarantee that experts keep their inventions under control at a forum at Dumfries House in Scotland on Thursday. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar and Google DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis are due to attend, alongside Anthropic representatives and UK AI minister Kanishka Narayan. The King will say people who value human and moral values seek assurance “that we do not lose control of our own destiny.”

TREE NEWS update: European Central Bank Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf said nothing can be ruled out for upcoming policy meetings, adding that the ECB’s interest rate remains in neutral territory. He said markets understand the ECB’s commitment to its 2% target and that no worrying signs of second-round effects have been seen, while the outlook is uncertain and inflation risks remain tilted to the upside.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Huantai Energy held a grid-connection ceremony in Baku on 16 July for its 100 MW Gobustan solar power project in Azerbaijan. The plant, located in the Garadagh district, comprises about 200,000 solar panels and a 110 kV substation. Once operating, it is expected to generate roughly 200 million kWh annually, saving some 45 million cubic meters of natural gas and cutting about 97,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year.

TREE NEWS update: The Pinglu Canal officially opened to navigation on 16 September, with Nanning Customs clearing 1,679.8 tonnes of import and export cargo through the waterway on its first day of operation. The goods were mainly auto parts, plywood, sodium sulfate and fibreboard, the customs authority said.

TREE NEWS update: Hong Kong retained third place globally and first in Asia-Pacific in the 40th Global Financial Centres Index, released on September 16, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a September 17 briefing. Guo said Hong Kong’s status as an international financial, shipping and trade hub has continued to consolidate under “one country, two systems.” Mainland-listed Hong Kong IPO fundraising reached HK$203.3 billion in the first half, ranking second worldwide.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce said it will not engage in megaphone diplomacy or a war of words in response to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s promotion of the “China Shock 2.0” narrative. Spokesperson He Yadong told a regular press conference in Beijing on Thursday afternoon that China has noted the situation and that its position remains consistent and clear.

TREE NEWS update: European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said the EU’s push for a closer partnership with Canada “is not directed against any other country” but serves their shared strength, after US President Donald Trump threatened tariffs. The statement followed Trump’s expression of displeasure over the EU-Canada rapprochement.

TREE NEWS update: China’s foreign ministry pushed back on September 17 after the US Congress passed a bill authorizing President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil products. Spokesman Guo Jiakun said China conducts normal trade and economic cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, and that such cooperation targets no third party and is not subject to third-party interference or coercion. He said China consistently opposes long-arm jurisdiction without a basis in international law or UN Security Council authorization.

TREE NEWS reports: Meituan data released on Sept 16 shows flight bookings for the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday rose 44% year on year. Long-haul bookings for flights over 2,000 km jumped 76% and accounted for more than a quarter of the total, while users booking two or more destinations increased 70% from a year earlier.

TREE NEWS reports: Spot gold rose 1.5% intraday to $4,327.9 an ounce. The move marks a sharp single-session gain for the metal, which trades around the clock across global markets.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s treasury futures closed narrowly mixed, with the 30-year main contract up 0.03% and the 10-year main contract flat at 0.00%. The 5-year main contract gained 0.01%, while the 2-year main contract was unchanged, down 0.00%.

TREE NEWS reports: US Treasuries extended their rally, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield down 5 basis points to 4.97%. The move marks a continued decline in benchmark yields as buying in government debt persisted.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce said on the 17th that it is highly concerned about the European Commission’s draft Public Procurement Law, which includes a ‘Europe First’ clause and requires security-related non-market factors in bid evaluation, excluding or restricting non-compliant third-country firms. Spokesperson He Yadong urged the EU to follow WTO rules, keep markets open and revise the discriminatory provisions, saying Beijing will monitor the legislative process and assess the impact.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce said on the 17th that Chinese and US trade teams remain in close communication on issues including a $30 billion mutual tariff reduction arrangement. Spokesperson He Yadong told a regular press briefing that further progress will be released in due course.

TREE NEWS reports: Turkey’s banking stock index rose 3.1%. The move marks a session of gains for Turkish bank equities, which trade on Borsa Istanbul. No further details were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: Libya’s Hamada and Tahara oil fields and the NC5 pumping station resumed production after Petroleum Facilities Guard members reopened a valve on the Hamada-Zawiya pipeline that they had shut on Tuesday in a pay dispute. National Oil Corporation chairman Masoud Suleman said the valve was reopened and output has returned to normal levels, with no further shutdowns expected.

TREE NEWS update: Chongqing Longfor Enterprise Expansion Co. has filed to publicly issue 2.73 billion yuan ($374 million) of corporate bonds to professional investors, a project accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, exchange bond platform data showed. The filing prospectus says proceeds, net of issuance fees, will be used entirely to repay corporate bond principal or to replace self-owned funds already used for such repayment.

TREE NEWS reports: Verisk Maplecroft said extreme weather will intensify Asia’s food security risks and could trigger social and political unrest in vulnerable countries including India, Indonesia and the Philippines. The Iran conflict has already disrupted fuel and fertilizer supplies, while extreme weather linked to a strong El Niño now threatens the region’s crops. Indonesia, the world’s largest palm oil producer, is battling wildfires that are hurting harvests, and monsoon rainfall in India, the top rice exporter, is 15% below normal.