Weekend News Round Up - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

• US stocks gained on Friday in which all major indices closed in the green and notable outperformance was seen in the small-cap Russell 2000 index, while sentiment was underpinned following encouraging US data as US PMI's beat forecasts thanks to a gain in the services sector and although the UoM Consumer Sentiment survey was revised down in November, it still topped the October level. Data also dictated treasury trade as upside occurred in the morning after soft European and UK data releases before reversing course to reach session lows after the US PMI report.
• US President-elect Trump named several new senior officials and cabinet nominees including hedge fund CEO Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary, while he was also reported to pick Brooke Rollins to be Agriculture Secretary and nominated Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Labour Secretary.
• Looking ahead, highlights include Japanese Leading Index & Singapore CPI, Supply from Japan.

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LOOKING AHEAD

• Highlights include Japanese Leading Index & Singapore CPI, Supply from Japan.
• Click for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.

US TRADE

• US stocks gained on Friday in which all major indices closed in the green and notable outperformance was seen in the small-cap Russell 2000 index, while sentiment was underpinned following encouraging US data as US PMI's beat forecasts thanks to a gain in the services sector and although the UoM Consumer Sentiment survey was revised down in November, it still topped the October level. Data also dictated treasury trade as upside occurred in the morning after soft European and UK data releases before reversing course to reach session lows after the US PMI report.
• SPX +0.35% at 5,969, NDX +0.17% at 20,776, DJIA +0.97% at 44,297, RUT +1.80% at 2,407.
• Click here for a detailed summary.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• Fed’s Bowman voter said must avoid the temptation to limit the use of AI in finance which could chill innovation in the banking system, while she added AI has the potential to improve reliability of economic data and can be a strong anti-fraud tool in the finance sector.
• US President-elect Trump named several new senior officials and cabinet nominees including hedge fund CEO Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary, while he was also reported to pick Brooke Rollins to be Agriculture Secretary and nominated Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Labour Secretary.

COMMODITIES

• Nominations for gas flows into Slovakia from Ukraine and flows from Slovakia into Austria and the Czech Republic on Sunday were in line with levels seen in the previous days.
• Iraq said a 15-day halt in Iranian gas due to maintenance is cutting 5.5GW from the national grid.

GEOPOLITICAL

MIDDLE EAST

• Senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader said Iran is preparing to respond to Israel, according to Tasnim.
• Iran will hold nuclear talks with the UK, France and Germany on Friday regarding nuclear and regional issues, according to an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson cited by Reuters.
• Hezbollah said it launched a drone attack on Israel’s Ashdod Naval Base for the first time.
• EU Foreign Policy Chief Borrell said they are ready to devote EUR 200mln to the Lebanese armed forces, while he added that they must pressure Israel and Hezbollah to accept the US proposal for a ceasefire.
• Israeli senior official said Israel's direction is to move towards a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, according to Axios. Furthermore, Asharq News on X cited Israeli media stating that Israel agreed in principle to the proposal for a ceasefire in Lebanon although it also cited Israel Broadcasting Corporation stating the green light has not yet been given on the Lebanon agreement and there are still issues that need to be resolved.
• Israel recommended avoiding non-essential travel to the UAE after the body of Israeli rabbi Zvi Kogan was found. Israeli PM Netanyahu’s office said the murder was a heinous anti-Semitic terrorist act and PM Netanyahu said Israel will take all measures to hold accountable the murderers and those who sent them.
• Iran’s Embassy in the UAE said it categorically rejects allegations of Iran’s involvement in the murder of Israeli rabbi Kogan in the UAE, according to a statement cited by Reuters.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE

• Ukrainian President Zelensky said on Saturday afternoon that Russian drones and missiles have damaged 321 Ukrainian port infrastructure facilities since July 2023 and that 20 civilian ships from other countries were damaged by Russian strikes.
• Ukraine’s air force said air defences downed 50 out of 73 Russian drones, while Russian air defence reportedly destroyed 34 Ukrainian drones, according to a report on Sunday via Reuters.
• Russian President Putin and Turkish President Erdogan discussed trade and economic cooperation during a phone call.
• Russia is likely to name Alexander Darchiev as ambassador to Washington, according to Kommersant citing unidentified sources.

OTHER

• North Korea condemned US military drills as provocative and strongly warned the US to stop hostile activity in the region, while North Korea’s military will keep all options open and if necessary, take pre-emptive actions to defend the state, according to KCNA.

ASIA-PAC

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• White House said the National Security Adviser Sullivan and other senior officials met with telecom executives to share intelligence and discuss China’s cyber espionage campaign targeting the sector.
• NZIER Shadow Board favours a 50bps cut by the RBNZ at its meeting this week.

DATA RECAP

• New Zealand Trade Balance (Oct) -1.5B (Prev. -2.1B, Rev. -2.2B)
• New Zealand Exports (Oct) 5.8B (Prev. 5.0B, Rev. 4.9B)
• New Zealand Imports (Oct) 7.3B (Prev. 7.1B, Rev. 7.1B)
• New Zealand Retail Sales Volumes QQ (Q3) -0.1% (Prev. -1.2%)
• New Zealand Retail Sales YY (Q3) -2.5% (Prev. -3.6%)

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• UK PM Starmer said in an op-ed in the Mail on Sunday that the government will set out “radical reforms” in the coming week to tackle the rising outlays on benefits and will get to grips with the bulging benefits bill.
• Economists revised their forecasts for German economic growth in 2025 to 0.6% from 1.2% which is the largest growth forecast downgrade for the period in any major industrial economy as the Trump tariff threat rattles exporters, according to FT citing a Consensus Economics survey.