Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: Rapeseed meal, asphalt, methanol and coking coal futures each closed more than 1% higher in China’s night trading session, while iron ore gained about 0.5%. The moves were confined to the commodities night session, with no broader market figures disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation said in a statement on the 16th that it is concerned about new US visa restrictions announced against certain South African individuals, saying Washington has misread the country’s domestic policies. The department did not specify which individuals the measures target or how many people are affected.

TREE NEWS reports: Deutsche Bank strategists said the British pound will be prone to volatility if the Bank of England keeps interest rates unchanged. The warning, issued in a research note, points to heightened currency swings should policymakers opt to stay on hold rather than adjust borrowing costs.

TREE NEWS reports: The Ugandan shilling fell to its weakest level in two and a half years, sliding to 3,925 shillings per dollar in early trading before recovering to 3,910, as foreign-exchange demand from the energy, manufacturing and telecommunications sectors surged. The prior closing low was 3,924 per dollar in March 2024. Citi analysts attributed the move mainly to offshore investors adjusting positions rather than domestic fundamentals, expecting the shilling to trade between 3,900 and 3,930 until the global macro backdrop improves.

TREE NEWS reports: Continental Resources Inc., the oil producer founded by Harold Hamm, is expected to announce an agreement covering oil operations in Venezuela. The deal would mark a further move by the US shale pioneer into Venezuelan crude, whose production has been constrained by years of sanctions and underinvestment. No financial terms or timing were immediately disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: US House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House will not vote this week on a bill to suspend the federal gasoline tax, citing deep disagreement among a large bloc of lawmakers over how best to address high pump prices. The decision drew sharp opposition from Freedom Caucus members, who had pushed for a vote on the issue before the midterm elections.

TREE NEWS update: UK Chancellor John Healey appointed TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak as a non-executive director of the Bank of England’s board for a four-year term. Financial markets and data technology executive David Craig was also named a non-executive director, serving until August 2030, while veteran investment management executive Hanneke Smits begins a four-year term on January 1.

TREE NEWS update: The management body of the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone was officially unveiled on September 17, 2021, launching a joint consultation, construction, management and sharing arrangement between Guangdong and Macao. Five years on, the zone has advanced hard, soft and heart connectivity, with Hengqin-Macao integration described as a new demonstration of the “One Country, Two Systems” practice and a new platform for high-level opening-up.

TREE NEWS update: Thailand and Cambodia held their first international mediation meeting on their overlapping maritime areas in Singapore from September 14 to 16. The three-day talks were attended by the two countries’ foreign ministers.

TREE NEWS reports: The US Energy Information Administration reported that US crude oil inventories fell by 640,000 barrels last week, against Bloomberg users’ forecast of a 2.1 million-barrel build and analysts’ expectation of a 1.55 million-barrel draw. The prior week saw a decline of 391,000 barrels. Separately, the American Petroleum Institute said after the September 15 US market close that crude stocks rose 7.144 million barrels last week.

TREE NEWS reports: US distillate fuel inventories rose by 1.585 million barrels in the week ended September 11, according to the Energy Information Administration’s weekly petroleum status report. The EIA figure covers distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, for the week ending September 11.

TREE NEWS update: Russia launched the Progress MS-35 cargo spacecraft toward the International Space Station on September 16, carried by a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Roscosmos said liftoff occurred at 16:34 Moscow time, 21:34 Beijing time, with the freighter carrying supplies for the orbiting station.

TREE NEWS update: Zhanjiang Coast Guard seized more than 20,000 cartons of suspected smuggled cigarettes in waters off Guangdong on the night of September 12, 2026, with the case value exceeding 10 million yuan. Officers responded to a report of a suspicious high-powered speedboat off Liantou Sha in Lianjiang City and coordinated sea and land operations with local police and the Lianjiang tobacco monopoly bureau.

TREE NEWS update: The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly government crude oil inventory report at 22:30 Beijing time. The report covers U.S. crude stockpiles and is watched by energy and financial markets.

TREE NEWS reports: The Houthis have seized all key geographic chokepoints in the Red Sea, giving them a low-cost, high-leverage asymmetric advantage over the United States, according to Chinese Middle East expert Li Zixin of the China Institute of International Studies. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made two appeals for help in a single day, both rejected by Washington, which offered only intelligence support and declined direct military involvement. The Houthis are attacking Saudi targets while signaling they do not intend to widen the Bab el-Mandeb blockade.

TREE NEWS reports: Nick Timiraos, the journalist widely known as the “new Fed wire,” said the Federal Reserve is unlikely to end its tightening cycle after a single rate hike. If the central bank raises rates at this meeting, markets will press it on what the tightening is meant to achieve — whether it marks the start of a cycle aimed at slowing the economy, a precautionary move against inflation risk, or something else entirely.

TREE NEWS reports: The US Department of Defense has told Congress that the war with Iran has cost more than $42 billion, $4.5 billion above the Pentagon’s last public figure. Defense officials gave the updated estimate to relevant congressional committees on August 13, the first revision of the data since late July.

TREE NEWS update: Bain Capital Ventures has raised $1.6 billion to back startups focused on the next phase of artificial intelligence. The fund will target early-stage companies in infrastructure, the physical world, and security and services — areas partner Enrique Salem expects to keep growing in importance even after artificial general intelligence is achieved. Salem said he expects fundraising activity to continue at a strong pace despite high costs and cybersecurity incidents facing the AI sector.

TREE NEWS reports: Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation CEO Jo Townsend said annualized US equity returns in recent years have run at nearly double the 20-year average, and the fund expects mean reversion at some point. She said concentrated portfolios can deliver strong short-term gains, but over the long term a more diversified portfolio better fits the fund’s fiduciary mandate.

TREE NEWS reports: Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation CEO Jo Townsend warned the US stock market risks a correction, while announcing the fund returned 14.2% for the fiscal year ended June 30. The fund, which manages New Zealand’s NZ$94.4 billion ($54.4 billion) sovereign wealth fund, was earlier this year named the world’s best-performing sovereign wealth fund by research firm Global SWF.