Weekend News Round Up - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

• US stocks sold off on Friday after disappointing NFP jobs data and a surprise increase in the Unemployment Rate to 4.3% from 4.1% added to the fears surrounding US growth, while the dollar was also pressured following the data with money markets now pricing in 115bps of rate cuts this year.
• Israel conducted strikes targeting two schools sheltering the displaced near Gaza City which killed at least 25 Palestinians, while the Israeli military said the strikes on Gaza schools targeted militants operating there.
• Looking ahead, highlights include Australian & Japanese Services and Composite July Final PMIs, Chinese Caixin Services & Composite PMIs, Singapore Retail Sales, BoJ Minutes from the June meeting.

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LOOKING AHEAD

• Highlights include Australian & Japanese Services and Composite July Final PMIs, Chinese Caixin Services & Composite PMIs, Singapore Retail Sales, BoJ Minutes from the June meeting.
• Click for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.

US TRADE

• US stocks sold off on Friday after disappointing NFP jobs data and a surprise increase in the Unemployment Rate to 4.3% from 4.1% added to the fears surrounding US growth, while the dollar was also pressured following the data with money markets now pricing in 115bps of rate cuts this year.
• SPX -1.8% at 5,347, NDX -2.4% at 18,441, DJIA -1.5% at 39,737, RUT -3.5% at 2,109
• Click here for a detailed summary.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• Fed’s Barkin (2024 voter) said his gut tells him inflation pressures are normalising and the job market is still generally healthy, while he added that the Fed has more data to weigh before its rate decision and he won’t prejudge what the Fed needs to do at the September meeting, according to PBS Program.
• Fed's Goolsbee (2025 voter) said on Friday that jobs data follows the trend of a cooling labour market and noted they had multiple good months of inflation and was broad-based. Furthermore, he said if inflation and the job market continue to cool, the Fed should cut.
• US Republican Presidential Candidate Trump said he agreed with Fox News to debate Kamala Harris on September 4th and said he agreed to conduct a major town hall event that evening if Harris is unwilling or unable to debate on that date.

DATA RECAP

• US Non-Farm Payrolls (Jul) 114.0k vs. Exp. 175.0k (Prev. 206.0k, Rev. 179k); two month net revisions -29k (prev. -111k)
• US Unemployment Rate (Jul) 4.3% vs. Exp. 4.1% (Prev. 4.1%)
• US Average Earnings YY (Jul) 3.6% vs. Exp. 3.7% (Prev. 3.9%, Rev. 3.8%)
• US Factory Orders MM (Jun) -3.3% vs. Exp. -2.9% (Prev. -0.5%)

COMMODITIES

• Saudi Arabia raised its official selling price for Asia in September by 20 cents to USD 2.00/bbl above the Oman/Dubai average, while it set the OSP to NW Europe to + USD 1.25/bbl vs ICE Brent and to the US at + USD 4.10/bbl vs ASCI.
• NHC said Tropical Storm Debby is strengthening over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, while it later stated Debby is likely to strengthen to a hurricane on Sunday night and make landfall in the Florida Big Bend area on Monday which will bring a major flood threat to the southeastern United States.

GEOPOLITICAL

MIDDLE EAST

• Israel conducted strikes targeting two schools sheltering the displaced near Gaza City which killed at least 25 Palestinians, while the Israeli military said the strikes on Gaza schools targeted militants operating there. Israel also conducted a strike in the West Bank which killed a Hamas commander.
• Israeli PM Netanyahu on Sunday warned "Iran's axis of evil" against attacking Israel amid expectations that Tehran and the militant groups it supports are readying retaliatory strikes, according to dpa.
• Iran-led retaliatory assaults are “expected imminently” and will likely be simultaneous, coming from Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and Iran itself, according to Israeli officials cited by Bloomberg and Iran International.
• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the terrorist act of killing Hamas chief Haniyeh was designed and executed by Israel with the support of the criminal US government, while it added that the adventurous and terrorist Zionist regime will decisively receive the response to this crime. Furthermore, the IRGC said Tehran’s revenge will be severe and at the appropriate time, place and manner, according to Reuters.
• Egypt’s Foreign Minister held a call with Iran’s Foreign Minister and stressed that recent developments are unprecedented, very dangerous and threatening to the region’s stability.
• US Secretary of State Blinken spoke with Iraqi PM Al-Sudani and emphasised the importance of all parties taking steps to calm regional tensions and avoid escalation, while Iraq’s PM told Blinken in the phone call that preventing regional tensions is tied to stopping Israeli aggression on Gaza.
• White House’s Finer said the US is trying to prepare for any scenario in the Middle East by warning citizens to leave Lebanon and the US is moving an aircraft carrier to the Middle East purely for defensive reasons, while Finer said the overall goal is to turn the temperature down in the region, according to a CBS interview.
• UK Foreign Office said Britain temporarily withdrew the families of officials working at the British embassy in Beirut due to a highly volatile security situation in Lebanon.
• US Central Command forces said they successfully destroyed an Iranian-backed Houthi missile and launcher in the Houthi-controlled area of Yemen. It was separately reported that Yemen’s Houthis said they targeted MV Groton in the Gulf of Aden with ballistic missiles.

OTHER

• Ukrainian President Zelensky announced the arrival of F-16 fighter jets and said they are already in use in Ukraine’s skies, while he said Ukraine does not have enough F-16 pilots or jets and hopes training will be expanded. Furthermore, he plans to discuss at the Ukraine-NATO council the use of neighbouring countries’ aviation for air defence work.
  - Ukrainian military said it struck a Russian submarine and ant-aircraft system in Crimea, while it also struck Russia’s Morovosk airfield, as well as oil fields and fuel facilities in three Russian regions.
• Russian Defence Ministry said Russian forces captured a settlement in the Donetsk region.
• Philippines and German Defence Ministers committed to concluding a broader defence agreement, while the Philippines Defence Minister said they invited German ships to participate in exercises.

ASIA-PAC

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• China issued guidelines to promote high-quality development of service consumption, according to Bloomberg.

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• UK PM Starmer vowed that those responsible for the disorder and chaos that’s spreading across UK towns and cities will be punished for what he described as “far-right thuggery”, according to Bloomberg.