Category: Flash News

On February 19th, according to the Brazilian National Association of Grain Exporters (ANEC), Brazil’s soybean exports in February are expected to reach 9.72 million tons, lower than the previous week’s expectation of 10.1 million tons; Brazil’s corn exports for February are expected to reach 1.28 million tons, slightly lower than last week’s forecast of 1.3 million tons; It is expected that the wheat export volume in February will reach 521762 tons, compared to last week’s estimated 577937 tons.

On the afternoon of February 17th local time, a Delta Air Lines passenger plane carrying 80 people had an accident while landing at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Canada, with the aircraft overturned and landing. On the 18th, Toronto Pearson International Airport, fire departments, and police held a press conference to provide the latest explanation on the accident. As of now, there are 21 confirmed injured persons in the accident, of which 19 have been discharged and the remaining 2 are not in life-threatening condition. The cause of the accident is still under investigation, and 20 investigators have arrived at the scene to inspect the wreckage of the plane. Some media have asked if the accident was caused by the runway being too slippery due to strong winds and snow accumulation. The airport has stated that there are currently no investigation results and does not want too much speculation. Affected by the accident, 462 flights were cancelled on the 17th. There are still many flights cancelled and rescheduled at the airport as a result. The airport recommends passengers to check their flight information before heading to the airport. According to eyewitnesses, the reason why the accident did not cause serious casualties was that the passengers did not unfasten their seat belts too early.

On February 19th, Henning Gloystein, the head of energy and climate at Eurasia Group, wrote in a research report that “OPEC+is eager to increase oil production in the second quarter, and the current market conditions suggest sufficient demand for increased production in the Middle East. The spot premium in the Brent crude oil market means that demand exceeds production, which may create an opportunity for OPEC+to increase production in April. Due to the inability of the United States to increase production of light, low sulfur crude oil to meet the demand in Asia, OPEC+may slightly increase supply in the second quarter However, OPEC+may also delay production increase again, especially when Brent spot prices fall below $70 per barrel.

On February 18th, Federal Reserve Governor Waller stated that he expects inflation to continue to decline and interest rate cuts to occur this year. The recent consumer price index has been disappointing, but this may be due to seasonal adjustment issues. It is expected that the impact of tariffs on prices will be mild and non persistent, and the Federal Reserve should strive to ignore this impact when formulating policies.

① The main decision-making body of the WTO is scheduled to hold a meeting; ② 11: 30 Reserve Bank of Australia announces interest rate decision; ③ 12: Musk releases Grok 3 and conducts live demonstrations; ④ 12: Reserve Bank of Australia Chairman Brock held a press conference on the 30th; ⑤ 15: 00 UK December three-month ILO unemployment rate, January unemployment rate, January unemployment benefit applicants; ⑥ 15: 45. Final monthly CPI rate for January in France; ⑦ 17: Bank of England Governor Bailey delivers a speech; ⑧ 18: 00 Germany’s February ZEW Economic Prosperity Index and Eurozone’s February ZEW Economic Prosperity Index; ⑨ 21:30 Canadian January CPI monthly rate; ⑩ 21:30 US February New York Fed Manufacturing Index; ⑪ 23:00 US February NAHB Real Estate Market Index; ⑫ At 02:00 the next day, Federal Reserve Governor Barr delivered a speech.

On February 18th, Southwest Airlines will lay off approximately 1750 leadership positions, marking a significant step towards cost cutting and the first time in the airline’s history that layoffs have occurred. Southwest Airlines stated in a statement on Sunday that the layoffs will affect 15% of the company’s positions, including senior leadership and directors. The layoffs will begin in late April and will be ‘basically completed’ by the end of the second quarter. Southwest Airlines has long boasted that it has never had any involuntary layoffs in its over 50 year history, but the airline has taken measures to control the number of employees. The company suspended recruitment for management and headquarters positions last month, and also suspended recruitment for pilots and flight attendants last year.

On February 18th, BHP Billiton stated that it expects its copper projects to achieve attributable copper production of over 2 million tons by mid-2030. The company still predicts a copper production of 1.85 million to 2.05 million tons for the whole year, and a attributable ore production of 260 million to 270 million tons for the whole year. It is expected that the total iron ore production in Western Australia for the whole year will be 280 million to 290 million tons.

On February 18th, Chinese assets are attracting the attention of global funds. Goldman Sachs stated in a latest research report that global hedge funds have been heavily buying Chinese stocks since the beginning of this year, and the size of several Chinese stock ETFs has significantly increased compared to the end of last year. At the same time, it was learned through interviews that several large overseas investment institutions have recently had frequent communication and exchanges with top domestic private equity managers. Some foreign institutions actively applied for domestic subjective multi strategy private equity funds as early as the end of last year, and well-known foreign institutions have also frequently appeared at research sites of high-quality enterprises in China. Finding good investment opportunities in the Chinese market has become a consensus among global capital. In the eyes of foreign institutions, DeepSeek’s stunning success, the booming development of the robotics industry, and the gradual introduction and effectiveness of policies to stabilize growth and increase increment have rapidly enhanced the attractiveness of Chinese assets. This year, the balance of global capital flows will tilt towards the East. (Shanghai Stock News)

On February 18th, according to reporters’ statistics, since the beginning of the year, 28 accounting firms have been punished by various securities regulatory bureaus for annual report audit issues, including well-known accounting firms such as Ernst&Young Huaming, Dahua, and Zhongshen Zhonghuan. Among them, 6 accounting firms were investigated for their lack of diligence and responsibility, with a total fine of 49.7377 million yuan. (Securities Times)

On February 18th, Israeli Defense Minister Katz issued a statement stating that the Israeli Ministry of Defense will establish a specialized agency to promote the “voluntary departure” of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. The statement stated that the organization will be composed of representatives from various departments of the Israeli government and defense agencies. The organization will take measures to provide support for any Gaza Strip residents who “voluntarily migrate” to a third country, including “special arrangements” for leaving by sea, land, air, etc.