Weekend News Round Up - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

US stocks continued their slide on Friday as a global IT outage sparked by a CrowdStrike (CRWD) update weighed on risk sentiment and President Biden's re-election chances continued to dwindle, while crude prices tumbled throughout the session and the buck was underpinned amid higher yields and the risk-off trade.
US President Biden announced he is stepping aside as a candidate and will focus on fulfilling his duties for the remainder of his term, while he endorsed Vice President Harris and will speak to the nation later this week.
Looking ahead, highlights include New Zealand Trade Data, PBoC Loan Prime Rates & Japanese Supply.

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Highlights include New Zealand Trade Data, PBoC Loan Prime Rates & Japanese Supply.
Click for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.

US TRADE

US stocks continued their slide on Friday as a global IT outage sparked by a CrowdStrike (CRWD) update weighed on risk sentiment and President Biden's re-election chances continued to dwindle, while crude prices tumbled throughout the session and the buck was underpinned amid higher yields and the risk-off trade.
SPX -0.71% at 5,505, NDX -0.93% at 19,523, DJIA -0.93% at 40,288, RUT -0.63% at 2,184
Click here for a detailed summary.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

US President Biden announced he is stepping aside as a candidate and will focus on fulfilling his duties for the remainder of his term, while he endorsed Vice President Harris and will speak to the nation later this week.
US Vice President Harris said she is honoured to have the President’s endorsement and she intends to earn and win the nomination, while she added that she will do everything in her power to unite the Democratic Party and unite the nation to defeat Donald Trump.
Super PAC Priorities USA and liberal super PAC Unite the Country said they will support Kamala Harris as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, while Bill and Hillary Clinton announced their endorsement of Harris. It was separately reported by CBS News that California Governor Newsom and Michigan Governor Whitmer do not plan to challenge Harris.
Democratic National Committee Chair Harrison said the American people will hear from the Democratic Party on the next steps and the path forward for the nomination process.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he thinks that Kamala Harris will be easier to defeat than President Biden in the November election, according to a CNN reporter via X.

MIDDLE EAST

Israel conducted a strike on Yemen’s Hodeidah on Saturday which killed six people and injured 80, while it was separately reported that Yemen’s Houthis said they fired missiles at Israel’s Eilat.
Israeli PM Netanyahu will meet with US President Biden on Tuesday, while Netanyahu said the port that Israel conducted a strike on was an entry port for weapons from Iran and the port attack reminds enemies that there is no place that Israel cannot reach. Israeli PM Netanyahu also said Israel will send a delegation to hostage deal talks on Thursday.

OTHER

Ukrainian President Zelensky called for long-range weapons after drone attacks on Kyiv. In relevant news, Russia's Defence Ministry announced their forces captured two settlements in Ukraine.
Philippine Foreign Ministry said China and the Philippines reached an understanding on a provisional arrangement for resupply missions in the disputed South China Sea shoal.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

Chinese President Xi said China’s development has entered a period of coexistence of strategic opportunities, risks and challenges, increasing uncertainties and unpredictable factors, while he added that various black swan and grey rhinoceros events may occur at any time, according to state media.
China’s reform plan will push the collection stage of the consumption tax back and delegate it to local governments steadily, while it will study merging urban maintenance, construction tax, education surcharge and local education surcharge into a local surcharge and authorise local governments to determine specific applicable tax rates within a certain range. China will improve the coordination of investment and financing in the capital market, prevent risks, strengthen supervision and promote the market’s healthy and stable development. Furthermore, China will create a market-oriented, law-based and internationalised first-class business environment, while it will protect the rights and interests of foreign investment in accordance with the law.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

UK Chancellor Reeves said she will consider inflation-busting pay rises for almost 2mln public sector workers this month to avert crippling strikes, according to Reuters.
UK Treasury ministers are reportedly softening up public opinion for a tough autumn Budget and potential tax increases and Chancellor Reeves said she wanted to “level” with the public about the UK’s fiscal “mess”, according to FT.
ECB’s Makhlouf said there is no need to rush to make decisions and that rapid interest-rate action from the central bank is not required, according to an interview with the Irish Examiner.