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Pete Crow-Armstrong ripped a two-run single to highlight a four-run first inning, helping the host Chicago Cubs stave off elimination with a 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday in Game 3 of their National League Division Series. The Cubs trail 2-1 in the best-of-five series. Game 4 is Thursday in Chicago. Michael Busch homered to lead off the first inning for the second time in this series, becoming the first player in major league history to accomplish the feat, per Sarah Langs. He also went deep in the Cubs' 9-3 loss to the Brewers in Game 1 on Saturday. Ian Happ scored on a wild pitch and Nico Hoerner and Kyle Tucker each had two of Chicago's eight hits. Drew Pomeranz (1-0) struck out two batters while retiring the side in order in the fifth inning. Jake Bauers had an RBI single in the fourth inning and an opposite-field homer to lead off the seventh to trim Chicago's lead to 4-3. Brad Keller struck out Bauers with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning. He then retired the side in the ninth inning to secure his second save of the playoffs. Sal Frelick's sacrifice fly plated Christian Yelich in the top of the first before the Cubs responded with a flourish in their half of the inning. Busch deposited a 3-2 fastball from Quinn Priester (0-1) over the wall in right-center field to forge a 1-1 tie. The homer was Busch's team-leading third of the postseason. The Cubs quickly loaded the bases before Crow-Armstrong's single to right field plated both Nick Hoerner and Kyle Tucker and chased Priester from the game. Nick Mears relieved Priester and promptly uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Happ to score and extend Chicago's lead to 4-1. Bauers trimmed his team's deficit with an RBI single in the fourth, however Caleb Durbin applied the brakes on Brandon Lockridge's bunt and was caught in a rundown at home plate. Joey Ortiz grounded out to end the inning. Priester permitted four runs on three hits with two walks in two-thirds of an inning. –Field Level Media

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(Repeats Oct 8 item to widen distribution. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) By Jamie McGeever ORLANDO, Florida, Oct 8 (Reuters) – The amount of U.S. Treasuries held at the New York Fed on behalf of global central banks has slumped to its lowest in over a decade, casting renewed doubt on foreign appetite for U.S. sovereign debt and other dollar-denominated assets. This may seem a little surprising. Recent data, including the Treasury International Capital and International Monetary Fund's 'Cofer' foreign exchange reserves reports, show overseas demand for Treasuries and dollar assets holding up pretty well. These two data sets are the gold standard measurements for U.S. capital flows and global FX reserves. But they are released with long lags – the last set of TIC data is for the month of July, and the latest Cofer numbers are for the second quarter. The New York Fed custody holdings figures aren't as comprehensive – central banks can hold their Treasury bonds elsewhere – but they are weekly, which in the world of cross-border, central bank capital flows is virtually 'real time'. And right now, these custody holdings are falling. Fast. The latest figures show that the value of U.S. Treasuries held at the New York Fed on behalf of foreign central banks is $2.78 trillion. That's the lowest since August 2012, and down $130 billion in just two months. Indeed, it's notable that peak holdings over the last year and a half, of $2.95 trillion, were in March-April this year, coinciding with peak market volatility around U.S. President Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariff chaos. According to this temperature check, foreign central banks seem to have cooled on Treasuries since then. Fed custody holdings are only one measure of overseas demand for Treasuries. Could they be a precursor for upcoming TIC and Cofer reports? DISSECTING DOLLAR SHARE OF FX RESERVES The latest TIC data show that foreign central banks bought a net $17.1 billion of U.S. Treasuries in July. That brings net purchases in the first seven months of this year to $38 billion, according to JP Morgan analysts, some $4 billion more than the same period in 2024. Meanwhile, the latest Cofer figures show that, adjusting for the dollar's steep depreciation, central banks were actually net buyers of dollar reserves in the April-June period. Analysts at Deutsche Bank estimate central banks' purchases of dollar-denominated securities in the quarter – much of which will have been U.S. Treasury bills and notes – nudged $50 billion. These are modest sums when set against the $12 trillion global FX reserves universe and $29 trillion U.S. Treasuries market. But they still point to consistent demand for Treasuries from reserve managers, and pour cold water on the 'de-dollarization' narrative. That's the notion that the world, alarmed at many of U.S. President Donald Trump's policy agendas and America's deteriorating fiscal health, is reducing its exposure to dollar-denominated assets. The dollar has weakened significantly, but overseas demand for U.S. stocks and bonds remains solid, especially from private sector investors. "Latest data releases confirm there is no substantial evidence of an abrupt rotation away from U.S. Treasuries after Trump's April tariff announcements," JP Morgan analysts wrote on Friday. But as noted, the TIC and Cofer figures are dated. We are now in October, and the Fed's weekly custody holdings suggest there may have been a shift since the summer. Standard Bank's Steve Barrow says the decline in custody holdings raises a red flag because it has come at a time of notable dollar weakness. Rapid declines in custody holdings more often occur when the dollar surges because central banks are forced to sell some of their Treasuries to raise cash for FX intervention. "The fact that these custody holdings have fallen so fast might be a sign that central banks have become less enamoured of the Treasury market – and the dollar – in recent months," Barrow wrote on Monday. Weekly data can be volatile, and there are much more comprehensive assessments of central banks' appetite for U.S. Treasuries. But could Fed custody holdings be the canary in the 'de-dollarization' coal mine? (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters) (By Jamie McGeever. Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )

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Oct 9 (Reuters) – Oil prices fell in early trade on Thursday after Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a plan to end the war in Gaza, weighing on oil's war risk premium and pushing investors to sell. Brent crude futures were down 51 cents, or 0.77%, at $65.74 a barrel by 0002 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 55 cents, or 0.88%, to $62. U.S. President Donald Trump said that Israel and Hamas had reached a long-sought deal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release under a plan for ending the two-year-old war in the Palestinian enclave. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would convene the government on Thursday to approve the ceasefire agreement. The war in Gaza has supported oil prices as investors have weighed the potential risk to global oil supply if the war were to develop into a wider regional conflict. Prices had gained around 1% on Wednesday to reach a one-week high after investors viewed stalled progress on a Ukraine peace deal as sustaining sanctions against Russia. Meanwhile, total weekly U.S. petroleum products supplied, a proxy for U.S. oil consumption, rose last week to 21.990 million barrels per day, the most since December 2022, showed a report from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. (Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

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ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER ISRAEL KATZ: I THANK PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU AND PRESIDENT TRUMP FOR THE LEADERSHIP THAT LED TO THIS AGREEMENT

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