Weekend News Roundup - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

• US President Trump posted on Saturday that time is running out, and there are ‘48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them, citing the previous ten-day deadline for Iran to make a deal or open up the Strait of Hormuz. Trump separately posted that “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!”, while he reiterated his threat for Iran to open the Strait or they will be living in hell.
• US President Trump told Fox News that he believes he can get a deal with Iran by Monday and said Iran is negotiating now, but also stated that he ideally will take Iranian oil if Iran is unwilling to make an agreement.
• OPEC+ eight members agreed to raise quotas by 206k bpd for May, although the increase is seen to be symbolic and will predominantly exist on paper as key members are unable to boost output due to the Iran war.
• Looking ahead, highlights include Singapore Retail Sales, Indian Services & Composite PMIs, Holiday Closures in Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, EU & UK.

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LOOKING AHEAD

• Highlights include Singapore Retail Sales, Indian Services & Composite PMIs, Holiday Closures in Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, EU & UK.
• Click for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.

IRAN CONFLICT

• US President Trump posted on Saturday that time is running out, and there are ‘48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them, citing the previous ten-day deadline for Iran to make a deal or open up the Strait of Hormuz. Trump separately posted that “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!”, while he reiterated his threat for Iran to open the Strait or they will be living in hell.
• US President Trump threatened to destroy all of Iran’s power plants if the country’s leaders don’t agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday evening, while he responded, “I will let you know pretty soon” when asked about when he thinks the war will end, according to a WSJ interview.
• US President Trump told Fox News that he believes he can get a deal with Iran by Monday and said Iran is negotiating now, but also stated that he ideally will take Iranian oil if Iran is unwilling to make an agreement.
• US rescued the second crew member from a downed F-15 in Iran. In relevant news, US President Trump told NBC News on Friday that the downing of the US jet won't affect Iran talks.
• US has deployed most of its JASSM-ER long-range stealth cruise missiles for the Iran war.
• US is doubling to USD 40bln its commitment to provide reinsurance guarantees to ships willing to travel through the Strait of Hormuz.
• Israeli defence official said they are making preparations for strikes on Iran’s energy facilities and awaiting the go-ahead from the US, while the strikes would likely come in the week ahead.
• Iran's parliament speaker Ghalibaf said the whole region is going to burn because US President Trump insists on following Israeli PM Netanyahu's commands.
• Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Iran will reciprocate attacks on its infrastructure and will target similar infrastructure owned by the US or related to it.
• IRGC warned on Friday that if US President Trump’s threats to target Iran’s infrastructure are carried out, the armed forces of Iran will target all Israeli and American assets and those of the host countries with even greater and more crushing force, according to IRNA.
• Iran's IRGC said they hit an Israeli ship in the channel of the UAE's Jebel Ali port.
• Iran was reported on Friday to have rejected a US proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire, while the proposal was made on Wednesday through another country.
• Iran’s military said Iraqi ships can travel through the Strait of Hormuz, with Iraq exempt from shipping restrictions. It was separately reported that Iran approved the passage of ships carrying essential goods to Iranian ports through the Strait of Hormuz.
• Kuwait’s government announced that two power and water desalination plants were struck by Iranian drones, resulting in significant damage and two power generation units out of service. It was also reported that Kuwait Petroleum Corp’s headquarters caught on fire following an unmanned drone strike.
• Abu Dhabi petrochemicals plant in Al-Ruwais was halted after an attack, which caused multiple fires.
• China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China is ready to cooperate with Russia to ease Middle East tensions.
• India’s Foreign Minister had a teleconference on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East with Qatar’s PM and Foreign Minister.

US TRADE

• US markets were closed on Friday

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• Kevin Warsh’s nomination hearing to become Fed Chair was set for April 16th, according to Politico.

DATA RECAP

• US Non-Farm Payrolls (Mar) 178K vs. Exp. 60K (Prev. -92K, Low. -25K, High. 125K); Two-month net revisions -7k (prev. -69k); Jan. revised up by 34k, Feb. revised down by 41k.
• US Unemployment Rate (Mar) 4.3% vs. Exp. 4.5% (Prev. 4.4%)
• US Average Hourly Earnings YoY (Mar) Y/Y 3.5% vs. Exp. 3.8% (Prev. 3.8%, Low. 3.6%, High. 3.8%)

COMMODITIES

• OPEC+ eight members agreed to raise quotas by 206k bpd for May, although the increase is seen to be symbolic and will predominantly exist on paper as key members are unable to boost output due to the Iran war.
• Libya's National Oil Corporation head said oil output has risen to about 1.43mln bpd, which is the highest level in more than a decade.
• Russia’s Lukoil Norsi refinery suffered a fire following a Ukrainian strike.
• Adnoc Gas said an incident at its Habshan complex on April 3rd caused damage to certain facilities.
• Serbian President Vucic said the police and army found “explosives of devastating power” next to a major gas pipeline that supplies much of the country and extends into Hungary.
• Italy imposed jet fuel restrictions at some airports amid the supply gap.
• Australian Assistant Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Thislethwaite said he sought and received pledges from Japan, South Korea and Singapore that shipments of fuel to Australia would continue, despite disruptions caused by the Iran war.
• Turkey’s regulators announced an increase in electricity and natural gas prices. It was also reported that Egypt is to raise prices for some residential and commercial users this month due to the global energy crisis.
• Emirates Global Aluminium said it may take as long as a year to restore full production at its Abu Dhabi plant.

GEOPOLITICAL

RUSSIA-UKRAINE

• Ukrainian President Zelensky’s chief of staff said Ukraine expects top US envoys Witkoff and Kushner to lead a US delegation to Kyiv this month amid efforts to resume peace talks.

ASIA-PAC

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• DeepSeek will soon debut its new LLM that will operate on a Huawei chip, according to The Information.
• Hon Hai (2317 TT) quarterly sales rose 29.7% Y/Y to TWD 2.13tln (exp. 2.14tln)

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• ECB’s Sleijpen said the central bank’s next discussion will be between hiking rates or keeping them on hold.
• Bank of Italy lowered its forecast for the country’s annual economic growth for both 2025 and 2026 to 0.5% from 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively.
• Finance Ministers from Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Austria called for a windfall profit tax on energy companies in response to rising fuel prices related to the conflict in Iran.