Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: Chinese commodity futures closed mixed, with rapeseed meal and bottle chip main contracts each rising more than 4%. Methanol, soybean meal and ethylene glycol gained over 3%. On the downside, lithium carbonate fell nearly 3%, while live hogs, Shanghai nickel, apples, glass and crude oil each dropped more than 1%.

TREE NEWS reports: UK consumer price inflation accelerated to 3.1% year-on-year in August, the highest since March, up from 2.9% in July, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. The reading matched the median economist forecast but came in above the Bank of England’s 2.8% projection, one day before the central bank announces its rate decision. The ONS attributed the pickup mainly to higher petrol prices driven by the Iran conflict and rising airfares during the summer holiday period.

TREE NEWS update: Zhong Xue Gao announced its relaunch under a new entity, Zhong Xue Gao Brand Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Three products — light milk, velvet cocoa and half-and-half chocolate — are set to launch in the fourth quarter, priced at 6.9 to 7.9 yuan per bar. The company said the price cut responds to consumer expectations, with raw material and logistics costs also having changed.

TREE NEWS update: Shaanxi province issued 10-year general local government bonds totaling 15.8723 billion yuan at a 1.7400% coupon, and 20-year special-purpose bonds totaling 17.8000 billion yuan at 2.2500%. The 10-year tranches of 4.8500 billion yuan and 11.0223 billion yuan drew bid-to-cover ratios of 1.46 and 2.34. The 20-year tranches of 7.0000 billion yuan and 10.8000 billion yuan drew ratios of 6.60 and 18.78.

TREE NEWS update: Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce president Goh Yih Ping said he is leading a delegation to the China-ASEAN Expo for a third consecutive year, seeking to expand product and market reach and find long-term strategic partners in supply chains, technology applications and investment. He made the remarks in an interview ahead of the expo.

TREE NEWS reports: The US Department of Defense spent roughly $38 billion on the Iran conflict over five months through August 1, the Congressional Budget Office estimated on August 15. Future costs would run at about $2 billion a month if fighting stays at the low intensity seen in May and June, or $3 billion a month at July’s higher intensity.

TREE NEWS reports: South Korea’s KOSPI index closed up 90.71 points, or 1.37%, at 6,717.97 on Wednesday, September 16. SK Hynix rose 4.08% and Samsung Electronics gained 2.01%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 438.90 points, or 0.69%, at 63,923.00 the same day.

TREE NEWS update: Zhipu (02513.HK) told analysts and investors on a call that it has completed a $5 billion refinancing structured as ‘small equity, large debt,’ to fund computing capacity expansion. Demand for its model calls surged tenfold after the February GLM-5 launch, exhausting its compute reserves within the week of release and forcing it to suspend sales of its flagship Coding plan. The company raised $4 billion in July and a further $5 billion on September 11.

TREE NEWS reports: Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.7% higher at 63,923, while the broader Topix rose 0.6% to 4,061.72. South Korea’s Kospi ended the session up 1.4% at 6,717.97.

TREE NEWS reports: The US government is preparing to sell Israel $2.8 billion worth of heavy bombs, US media reported on the 15th. The package includes 40,000 2,000-pound aerial bombs — 20,000 MK-84 bombs and 20,000 BLU-117 bombs. It also includes 20,000 I-2000 bunker-buster warheads designed to penetrate soil, rock or concrete and detonate after penetration.

TREE NEWS reports: The Federal Reserve will announce its rate decision on Sept 16, with markets pricing a 25 basis point hike at 88% on Polymarket and 92.3% on CME FedWatch after August core CPI rose 0.3% month-on-month versus 0.2% expected. A hike would be the first since July 2023 and the first of 2026, with investors focused on whether Chair Warsh signals a new tightening cycle. Bitcoin fell below $76,000 after the CPI print and spot bitcoin ETFs saw $463 million in net outflows last week.

TREE NEWS update: Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee unveiled the 2026 Policy Address, pledging to deepen the city’s global offshore renminbi business and capital markets. The plan includes launching an offshore RMB bond index, optimizing rules on discloseable transactions, connected transactions and spin-offs, and expanding the fixed-income and commodities trading ecosystem as Hong Kong builds itself into an international asset and wealth management center.

TREE NEWS update: Yemen’s Houthi movement on September 16 denied Saudi accusations that it threatens the holy city of Mecca, stating its operations target Saudi oil facilities and military bases far from religious sites in the kingdom. The Houthis said in the statement that they “do not pose a threat to the holy city.”

TREE NEWS update: China’s National Bureau of Statistics published its 15th Five-Year Plan for statistical reform and development, setting goals for the 2026-2030 period. The plan calls for markedly stronger authority and influence for official government statistics, continuously improved data quality, more scientific accounting systems and methods, new breakthroughs in key statistical reforms, and deeper openness, sharing and transparency.

TREE NEWS reports: GBP/USD held its advance after the release of UK CPI data, trading up 0.1% at 1.3491. The pound extended its gain once the inflation print was published. No further figures from the data release were given.

TREE NEWS reports: The UK’s core retail price index rose 3.3% year-on-year in August, accelerating from 3.1% in the previous month. The print marks a pickup in core retail price inflation on an annual basis compared with July’s figure.

TREE NEWS reports: UK consumer prices rose 0.5% in August from the previous month, accelerating from a 0.3% monthly increase in July. The pickup in monthly CPI marks a faster pace of price growth than the prior reading.

TREE NEWS reports: Market-implied odds of a 25 basis point Federal Reserve rate hike climbed to 87% on Kalshi as of September 15, up from about 30% on August 27. Kalshi traders are also pricing a further hike in December, with the Fed set to release its latest Summary of Economic Projections and dot plot alongside tonight’s rate statement. Warsh’s recent remarks suggest limited forward guidance at his press conference, leaving markets to read dissents and the dot plot.

TREE NEWS reports: Combined turnover across the Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing stock exchanges exceeded 1.5 trillion yuan, with volume running 201.2 billion yuan heavier than at the same point the previous trading day. The figure covers the three mainland bourses as of the stated time.

TREE NEWS reports: Saudi Aramco has sold about 20 million barrels of crude to Asian refiners this week, with cargoes available for pickup outside the Strait of Hormuz this month and next, traders said. The spot crude will load from the Gulf of Oman via ship-to-ship transfer in September and October. The move follows the closure of the kingdom’s East-West oil pipeline, which halted crude flows to the Red Sea coast.