US stocks declined amid headwinds for big tech stocks - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

US stocks suffered notable losses amid declines in big tech which resulted in the underperformance of the Nasdaq with selling pressure exacerbated as Apple (AAPL) was weighed on by reports of poor China iPhone metrics and Tesla (TSLA) extended on losses amid a fire and production halt at its Berlin plant, while AMD (AMD) also faces US restrictions on its chip sales to China. Furthermore, attention was on gold and Bitcoin which both rose to record highs although have since come off their peaks with the latter slumping heavily.
USD marginally softened but is well off the intraday lows seen following the miss on ISM Services data, while fundamental news flow for the US was light as participants await Powell's testimony to Congress beginning on Wednesday, as well as ADP and JOLTS data ahead of Friday's NFP report.
Looking ahead, highlights include South Korean CPI, Australian GDP & Retail Sales, Supply from Australia.

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Highlights include South Korean CPI, Australian GDP & Retail Sales, Supply from Australia.
Click here for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.

US TRADE

US stocks suffered notable losses amid declines in big tech which resulted in the underperformance of the Nasdaq with selling pressure exacerbated as Apple (AAPL) was weighed on by reports of poor China iPhone metrics and Tesla (TSLA) extended on losses amid a fire and production halt at its Berlin plant, while AMD (AMD) also faces US restrictions on its chip sales to China. Furthermore, attention was on gold and Bitcoin which both rose to record highs although have since come off their peaks with the latter slumping heavily.
SPX -1.02% at 5,078, NDX -1.80% at 17,897, DJIA -1.04% at 38,585, RUT -0.99% at 2,053.
Click here for a detailed summary.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

US Senator Sinema said she will leave the Senate at the end of this year and will not run for re-election.

DATA RECAP

US Factory Orders MM (Jan) -3.6% vs. Exp. -2.9% (Prev. 0.2%, Rev. -0.3%)
US S&P Global Services PMI Final (Feb) 52.3 (Prev. 51.3)
US S&P Global Composite Final PMI (Feb) 52.5 (Prev. 51.4)
US ISM Services PMI (Feb) 52.6 vs. Exp. 53.0 (Prev. 53.4)
US ISM Non-Manufacturing Prices Paid Index (Feb) 58.6 (Prev. 64.0)
US ISM Non-Manufacturing New Orders Index (Feb) 56.1 (Prev. 55.0)
US ISM Non-Manufacturing Employment Index (Feb) 48.0 (Prev. 50.5)

USD marginally softened but is well off the intraday lows seen following the miss on ISM Services data, while fundamental news flow for the US was light as participants await Powell's testimony to Congress beginning on Wednesday, as well as ADP and JOLTS data ahead of Friday's NFP report.
EUR was ultimately flat against the greenback with little direction seen following the decline in EU Producer Prices and upward revisions to the bloc's Services PMIs as participants await Thursday's ECB.
GBP price action was indecisive and GBP/USD traded on both sides of 1.2700 ahead of the Budget.
JPY outperformed with USD/JPY retreating beneath the 150.00 level amid softer US yields and recent acceleration in Tokyo inflation.

Treasuries rallied to multi-week highs after the weaker-than-expected ISM Services PMI data which included a slowdown in the Prices Paid and Employment sub-indexes.

Oil prices declined amid concerns around the achievability of China's GDP target and coincided with the move lower in stocks.
US Energy Inventory Data (bbls): Crude +0.4mln (exp. +2.1mln), Gasoline -2.8mln (exp. -1.6mln), Distillate -1.8mln (exp. -0.7mln), Cushing +0.5mln.
Iraq’s oil minister said they are committed to oil output cuts and that Iraq's oil output was at 4mln BPD.
Ukraine rules out any commercial agreements to allow Russian natural gas to continue flowing through the country after the current transit deal ends at the end of the year, according to Bloomberg citing a Ukrainian official at an industry event.

MIDDLE EAST

Israeli Defence Minister Gallant informed US Special Envoy Hochstein of the necessity of thinking about a diplomatic path to resolve the situation with Lebanon without this having anything to do with a calm in Gaza which may not happen soon, according to Sky News Arabia.
Two senior Israeli officials said that members of the Israeli negotiating team are expected to ask PM Netanyahu and the members of the cabinet to expand the mandate they have been given so far to try and break the deadlock in the talks, according to Walla News.
Hamas senior official said any exchange of prisoners cannot take place except after a ceasefire, while it was reported that Hamas negotiators are to stay in Cairo for a third day for more ceasefire talks.
Qatar’s PM and Foreign Minister warned against exploiting the aid issue for political blackmail by Israel and they hope to reach a ceasefire before the month of Ramadan.
US President Biden said an Israeli ceasefire is in the hands of Hamas right now. It was also reported that US Secretary of State Blinken and Israel’s Gantz discussed efforts to reach an agreement on a six-week ceasefire in Gaza and it was stated that obstacles to a ceasefire deal are not insurmountable, according to the State Department.
Yemen's Houthis said they carried out a qualitative military operation in which they targeted two US warship destroyers in the Red Sea.

OTHER

Ukraine attacked an oil depot in the Russian border region, according to AFP sources.
French President Macron said the Czech plan to purchase ammunition to send to Ukraine is useful and that France is prepared to contribute to this plan.
Russian official Naryshkin said French President Macron's statement about NATO soldiers in Ukraine shows the irresponsibility of European leaders and are pushing the world to a nuclear war, according to TASS.
Russian Defence Ministry said Russia scrambled an SU-27 fighter jet to escort French military planes over the Black Sea.
US State Department said the US is talking to the Philippines about recent "provocative actions" by China.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

Chinese President Xi said China is planning major measures to deepen reforms in an all-around way.
Chinese special envoy for Eurasian affairs said China firmly opposes the EU's inclusion of Chinese companies in the latest sanctions list against Russia.
US House China Select Committee introduced a bill that would effectively force ByteDance to sell TikTok within six months if they want to stay in the US market, with the initial vote expected on Thursday.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

UK Chancellor Hunt will cut national insurance by 2p in the Budget, according to Times' Swinford.
ECB insider expects inflation forecasts to be cut this year and maybe next year, according to Econostream Media.

DATA RECAP

UK S&P Global Services PMI (Feb) 53.8 vs. Exp. 54.3 (Prev. 54.3)
UK S&P Global Composite PMI (Feb) 53.0 vs. Exp. 53.3 (Prev. 53.3)
German HCOB Services PMI (Feb F) 48.3 vs. Exp. 48.2 (Prev. 48.2)
German HCOB Composite PMI (Feb F) 46.3 vs. Exp. 46.1 (Prev. 46.1)
French HCOB Services PMI (Feb F) 48.4 vs. Exp. 48.0 (Prev. 48.0)
French HCOB Composite PMI (Feb F) 48.1 vs. Exp. 47.7 (Prev. 47.7)
EU HCOB Services PMI (Feb F) 50.2 vs. Exp. 50.0 (Prev. 50.0)
EU HCOB Composite PMI (Feb F) 49.2 vs. Exp. 48.9 (Prev. 48.9)
EU Producer Prices MM (Jan) -0.9% vs. Exp. -0.1% (Prev. -0.8%, Rev. -0.9%)
EU Producer Prices YY (Jan) -8.6% vs. Exp. -8.1% (Prev. -10.6%, Rev. -10.7%)