Weekend News Round Up - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

• US stocks gained throughout the session on Friday and the S&P 500 hit a fresh record high with Technology names doing a lot of the heavy lifting, while the highlight of the session was the UoM survey which saw a huge surge in consumer sentiment with jumps in both current conditions and expectations, while the inflation expectations dipped.
• Newsflow over the weekend was quiet aside from geopolitical-related headlines, while the Fed also entered a blackout period.
• Looking ahead, highlights include PBoC Loan Prime Rates, Malaysian CPI, Indian Markets are Closed on Monday.

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LOOKING AHEAD

• Highlights include PBoC Loan Prime Rates, Malaysian CPI, Indian Markets are Closed on Monday.
• Click here for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.

US TRADE

• US stocks gained throughout the session on Friday and the S&P 500 hit a fresh record high with Technology names doing a lot of the heavy lifting, while the highlight of the session was the UoM survey which saw a huge surge in consumer sentiment with jumps in both current conditions and expectations, while the inflation expectations dipped.
• SPX +1.23% at 4,839, NDX +1.95% at 17,313, DJIA +1.05% at 37,863, RUT +1.08% at 1,944.
• Click here for a detailed summary.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• Fed's Bostic (2024 voter) said on Friday that he wants to make sure they are well on the way to 2% before cutting and he is open to changing the outlook for the rate cut timing on data.
• Fed's Daly (2024 voter) said on Friday that the Fed does not have inflation down to 2% yet and there is a lot of work left to do on inflation, while it is premature to think rate cuts are around the corner, according to an FBN interview. Daly also stated that policy is in a good place and risks are more balanced at this point, while she noted that they do not want to loosen policy too quickly or try to squeeze inflation out too fast and said the Fed has not yet declared victory.
• Florida Governor DeSantis ended his presidential bid and endorsed Donald Trump.

COMMODITIES

• A fire broke out at Russia’s Novatek gas terminal and personnel were evacuated, according to the local governor.
• Libya’s El Sharara oilfield output restarted after protestors ended the sit down which had shut down production, while the NOC declared lifting of a force majeure and resuming full production from the El Sharara field.

GEOPOLITICAL

• Israel conducted a strike on southern Lebanon which killed a Hezbollah member and one other Lebanese person, according to security sources.
• Israel conducted an air strike on Damascus which killed 4 Iranian Revolutionary Guards, while Iranian President Raisi said an Israeli strike that killed Revolutionary Guards will not go unanswered, according to state media.
• US, Egypt and Qatar are pushing Israel and Hamas to join a phased diplomatic process that would begin with the release of hostages and eventually lead to the withdrawal of Israeli forces and an end to the war in Gaza. However, the report also noted that a media adviser to Hamas said there was no real progress, while Israeli PM Netanyahu rejected Hamas’s demands which included an end to the war and said they would not be able to ensure the security of their citizens if they would have agreed to this.
• Saudi’s Foreign Minister said they are very focused on de-escalation in Gaza and need to focus on a solution for the Palestinian issue, according to CNN.
• US Central Command forces conducted air strikes against a Houthi anti-ship missile that was aimed at the Gulf of Aden on January 20th.
• US personnel suffered minor injuries and an Iraqi security forces member was wounded following an attack on the Ain al-Asad air base on Saturday which involved multiple ballistic missiles and rockets that were launched by Iranian-backed militants in western Iraq, although most of the missiles were intercepted, according to Reuters.
• UK Defence Minister Shapps said the UK military scientists shot down drones for the first time by using DragonFire laser to cut through incoming targets at the speed of light. It was also reported that the UK Defence Ministry said it will spend GBP 405mln to upgrade its warship defence missile system currently being used in the Red Sea.
• Russian President Putin reportedly showed his intention to visit North Korea soon, while it was also reported that North Korea and Russia expressed concern over provocation acts by the US and its allies, Furthermore, North Korea and Russia agreed on cooperation in regional affairs and agreed that cooperation and joint assistance would be in accordance with the UN Charter and international laws.
• Eight people were killed following an attack on Russian-controlled Donetsk, according to TASS. It was also separately reported that Russia took control of the village of Krokhmalne in the Karkiv region, according to IFX.

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• EU’s Dombrovskis said the EU must find ways to prevent the bloc’s most sensitive technologies, companies and assets from “ending up in the wrong hands”, as the EU prepares to unveil economic security proposals, according to FT.