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Weekend News Roundup - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

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Sunday, Apr 20, 2025 - 09:52 PM
  • US stock markets were closed on Friday.
  • Russian President Putin declared an Easter ceasefire and the Kremlin said the Russian side will halt all hostilities from 18:00 on April 19th to 00:00 on April 21st, while Putin said Russia has always been ready for negotiations and welcomed the desire of the US, China and other countries for a fair settlement on Ukraine. However, it was also reported that both Russia and Ukraine accused each other of breaking the one-day ceasefire and a Kremlin spokesperson said Russian President Putin had not ordered to extend the Easter ceasefire.
  • Looking ahead, the Asia-Pac session will run until Monday 21st April at 0630BST at which point the service will halt due to the closure of EU and UK markets. The service will then resume at 1300BST for the beginning of the US session with US markets subject to a regular open. Highlights include PBoC Loan Prime Rates, Holiday Closures in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, EU & UK.

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LOOKING AHEAD

  • The Asia-Pac session will run until Monday 21st April at 0630BST at which point the service will halt due to the closure of EU and UK markets. The service will then resume at 1300BST for the beginning of the US session with US markets subject to a regular open.
  • Highlights include PBoC Loan Prime Rates, Holiday Closures in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, EU & UK.
  • Click for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.

US TRADE

  • US stock markets were closed on Friday.

TARIFFS/TRADE

  • US President Trump said on Friday that the US is having nice conversations with China.
  • China’s Foreign Minister said China will take necessary measures to defend lawful rights and interests in regard to US port fees on China-built ships, while it urged the US to respect the facts and multilateral rules and immediately stop ‘wrongful practices’.
  • China Shipbuilding Association expressed “extreme indignation and resolute opposition” against US measures on Chinese shipbuilding and said US suppression of China’s shipbuilding is based on false allegations and inaccurate investigations, as well as violates the rules of international trade.
  • China’s export controls of antimony, germanium and gallium, which are important across the defence and chip sectors, are keeping shipments of these critical minerals at historically low levels.
  • US Customs and Border Protection confirmed USD 800 de minimis duty-free exemption is to be voided for China and Hong Kong exports into the US from 00:01 EDT on May 2nd. It was also reported that Deutsche Post’s (DPW GY) DHL unit suspended B2C shipments to the US with a value of over USD 800 due to increased customs clearance times.
  • UK Chancellor Reeves is to press for global free trade and hopes to get a better tariff deal for the UK when she meets with US Treasury Secretary Bessent this week, according to FT.
  • Japan is mulling relaxing automobile safety rules for imports as part of US tariff negotiations, while it was separately reported that Japan mulls higher US rice imports in tariff talks, according to Nikkei and Yomiuri.
  • South Korean acting President Han said South Korea will not fight US President Trump’s tariffs, while he added that Seoul owes a historical debt and is open to dropping trade barriers ahead of talks with Washington, according to FT. It was also reported that South Korea’s Trade Minister said the US and South Korea are holding trade consultations this week at the US’s request.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

  • Fed’s Goolsbee (2025 voter) said pre-emptive purchasing ahead of tariffs is likely more pronounced on the business side, which raises the chance that activity may look high now and will fall off later, although he added that the hard data coming in for April was pretty good, according to CBS Face the Nation.
  • Fed’s Daly (2027 voter) said on Friday that the economy is ultimately heading where they want it and that risks to inflation are elevated, while she added they may have to hold policy tighter for longer than they thought but noted that does not mean tight policy forever.
  • US President Trump is said to be studying if he is able to remove Fed Chair Powell, according to a report in Bloomberg citing White House Economic Adviser Hassett.
  • US President Trump said on Friday that the Office of Personnel Management will issue new civil service regulations for career government employees and if government employees working on policy matters refuse to advance policy interests of the President, or are engaging in corrupt behaviour, they should no longer have a job.
  • US President Trump’s administration is reportedly exploring drastic cuts to State Department operations and floated the closure of African embassies in a draft executive order, although Secretary of State Rubio said that the draft order is fake news, according to FT.
  • Volvo (VOLVB SS) is to cut up to 800 US jobs amid tariff uncertainty, according to Reuters.
  • Tesla (TSLA) will delay the US production of a cheaper Model Y, according to Reuters sources.

COMMODITIES

  • Japan’s ruling coalition agreed on subsidies to reduce gasoline prices by JPY 10/litre from May, according to Nikkei.
  • Ukraine may need to import 6.3bcm of gas for next winter as reserves hit a record low.

GEOPOLITICAL

MIDDLE EAST

  • Israeli military released details of an examination into the killing of 15 emergency workers in Gaza last month in which it found no evidence to support claims of execution or that any of the deceased were bound before or after the shooting, although it found professional failures, breaches of orders and a failure to report the incident. Furthermore, it stated that a commanding officer would be reprimanded and a deputy commander would be dismissed from his position over the incident.
  • US and Iranian officials said the meeting in Rome made progress and they will meet again in the week ahead, while Iran’s Foreign Minister Araqchi said they made it clear the 2015 nuclear deal is no longer good enough for them and that for now, optimism may be warranted but only with a great deal of caution. Araqchi also stated that the initiation of an expert-level track will begin in the coming days with a view to hammer out details and noted that a relatively positive atmosphere in Rome has enabled progress on principles and objectives of a possible deal.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE

  • Russian President Putin declared an Easter ceasefire and the Kremlin said the Russian side will halt all hostilities from 18:00 on April 19th to 00:00 on April 21st, while Putin said Russia has always been ready for negotiations and welcomed the desire of the US, China and other countries for a fair settlement on Ukraine. However, it was also reported that both Russia and Ukraine accused each other of breaking the one-day ceasefire and a Kremlin spokesperson said Russian President Putin had not ordered to extend the Easter ceasefire.
  • Ukrainian President Zelensky said on Sunday morning that the Russian army is only trying to create the impression of a ceasefire and that Ukrainian forces reported 59 instances of Russian shelling and five assault attempts along the front line on Easter morning. Zelensky also said that Ukraine’s proposal to extend the ceasefire for 30 days after Easter remained valid and Ukraine proposed that Russia abandon any long-range drone and missile strikes on civilian infrastructure for at least 30 days.
  • Russia and Ukraine exchanged 538 prisoners through UAE mediation, according to the UAE state news agency.
  • European Commission said regarding Russia’s ceasefire declaration that Russia has a track record as an aggressor so it would first need to see any actual halt of aggression and clear deeds for a lasting ceasefire, while the European Commission added that Russia could stop the war at any moment if it really wanted to. Furthermore, it stated that it continues to support Ukraine for a long, just and comprehensive peace.
  • US President Trump said hopefully Russia and Ukraine will make a deal this week and both with then start to do big deals with the US and make a fortune.
  • US reportedly offered to ease sanctions on Russia in the event of a lasting ceasefire under its Ukraine peace plan and shared its framework with European allies.
  • Britain said its fighter jets intercepted two Russian aircraft flying near NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea in recent days.

ASIA-PAC

NOTABLE HEADLINES

  • China is to hold an NPC Standing Committee meeting on April 27th-30th.
  • Taiwan extended short-selling curbs amid Trump tariff uncertainty.

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

  • UK Chancellor Reeves pledged not to raise wealth taxes in her Autumn Budget and said the priority is to grow the economy which is the way to make working people better off and secure better public finances, according to an interview with The Telegraph.
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