Weekend News Roundup - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

• US stocks saw mixed price action on Friday although the major indices finished in the green and Consumer Discretionary surged thanks to Amazon's almost double-digit rally on a profit, revenue, and AWS beat, Conversely, tech was lacklustre with fluctuations seen in Apple as participants weighed the miss on some metrics (mainland China, iPhone, and Mac revenue) against the positive Q1 revenue outlook. Meanwhile, Utilities, Materials, and Staples underperformed and were in the red, while market-moving updates included reports that the US decided to attack military sites in Venezuela, which could come at any moment as the sites are being used to smuggle drugs, which spurred some risk-off trade, although US President Trump later refuted the prospects of a strike on Venezuela.
• Eight OPEC+ countries agreed to raise oil output in December by 137k bpd and then pause for Q1.
• Looking ahead, highlights include Australian MI Inflation Gauge, Household Spending & Building Approvals, Regional PMIs, Chinese RatingDog Manufacturing PMI, Japanese Holiday Closure.
• US clocks moved back an hour on Sunday to Standard Time, and the London-New York time difference reverted to 5 hours.

More Newsquawk in 2 steps:

1. Subscribe to the free premarket movers reports

2. Trial Newsquawk’s premium real-time audio news squawk box for 7 days

LOOKING AHEAD

• US clocks moved back an hour on Sunday to Standard Time, and the London-New York time difference reverted to 5 hours.
• Highlights include Australian MI Inflation Gauge, Household Spending & Building Approvals, Regional PMIs, Chinese RatingDog Manufacturing PMI, Japanese Holiday Closure.
• Click for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.

US TRADE

• US stocks saw mixed price action on Friday although the major indices finished in the green and Consumer Discretionary surged thanks to Amazon's almost double-digit rally on a profit, revenue, and AWS beat, Conversely, tech was lacklustre with fluctuations seen in Apple as participants weighed the miss on some metrics (mainland China, iPhone, and Mac revenue) against the positive Q1 revenue outlook. Meanwhile, Utilities, Materials, and Staples underperformed and were in the red, while market-moving updates included reports that the US decided to attack military sites in Venezuela, which could come at any moment as the sites are being used to smuggle drugs, which spurred some risk-off trade, although US President Trump later refuted the prospects of a strike on Venezuela.
• SPX +0.27% at 6,841, NDX +0.48% at 25,858, DJI +0.09% at 47,563, RUT +0.49% at 2,478.
• Click here for a detailed summary.

TARIFFS/TRADE

• US President Trump commented on Friday about China, in which he stated that he would love to get rid of the extra 10% tariff and that the meeting with China was incredible, while he believes the deal with China will be long-lasting. It was also reported that US President Trump told Chinese President Xi that chip sales are "between you and Nvidia".
• US Treasury Secretary Bessent said China has shown itself to be an unreliable partner in many areas, while he also commented, “we’ll see” if a 10% tariff will be enacted on Canada after the Reagan advertisement, and he is not planning on going to the Supreme Court arguments on trade policy on Wednesday, according to CNN.
• China’s Commerce Ministry said it will consider exemptions for the Nexperia chip export ban. It was separately reported that Nexperia’s Dutch headquarters said it welcomes announcements lifting the block on shipping chips, while the Dutch government said that China talks continue on a constructive way forward in Nexperia.
• Chinese President Xi proposed that China and South Korea properly manage differences through friendly consultations, while he called for the sides to strengthen strategic communication and consolidate the foundation of mutual trust. Xi also called for deepening China and South Korea cooperation in emerging sectors such as AI and biopharmaceuticals, as well as urged South Korea to work with China to practice true multilateralism and safeguard the multilateral trading system.
• South Korea’s presidential office said South Korea and China signed 7 MOUs, including a currency swap. It was also reported that a South Korean presidential adviser said they agreed with China to cooperate on stabilising supply chains and will continue working-level communication on China’s ban on Korean culture, while South Korea and China were said to have made progress on China’s effective ban on Korean culture.
• Japanese PM Takaichi said they agreed with Chinese President Xi to build a constructive and stable relationship, while she said they reaffirmed a strong US-Japan alliance through US President Trump’s visit. Furthermore, Takaichi said they are not planning to renegotiate the USD 550bln investment package with the US even after seeing the US-South Korea package.
• Canadian PM Carney met with Japanese PM Takaichi on the APEC sidelines and discussed the potential to expand a productive economic relationship between the two countries, building on USD 32bln in annual two-way merchandise trade, while the Canadian PM’s office said they stand ready to negotiate an even better trade deal for both Canada and the US.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• Fed’s Miran (voter) warned that the Fed risks a recession if it doesn’t cut rates rapidly, according to The New York Times.
• Fed’s Waller (voter) said on Friday that they have a lot of data despite the government shutdown and noted the labour market is weak and that tariffs are having a minor effect on inflation. Waller stated that inflation expectations are anchored and that they should look through tariff-driven inflation, while he added that inflation is coming back to 2% and the biggest concern now is the labour market. Furthermore, he still advocates for the Fed to cut rates in December and said data fog does not tell you to stop, as well as noted that the right thing to do is keep cutting, and he would say yes if President Trump asks him to be Fed Chair.
• US President Trump urged Senate Republicans to terminate the filibuster rule. US President Trump separately commented that they will ask the courts how they can legally fund SNAP benefits as soon as possible.
• US Treasury Secretary Bessent said the Trump administration will not appeal the judge’s ruling on SNAP benefits, while he also commented that the Fed should be cutting rates if inflation is dropping, according to an interview with CNN.

COMMODITIES

• Eight OPEC+ countries agreed to raise oil output in December by 137k bpd and then pause for Q1.
• Turkish oil refiners are to cut Russian crude imports for December arrival with Azeri Socar buying four non-Russian cargoes, while Turkish state refiner Tupras increases purchases of non-Russian crude, according to sources cited by Reuters.

GEOPOLITICAL

MIDDLE EAST

• Israeli PM Netanyahu warned that Israel was prepared to take further action against Iran-allied groups, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen, according to FT.
• Israel’s Defence Minister said the Lebanese government must fulfil its commitment to disarm Hezbollah and remove it from south Lebanon, while Israel vowed maximum enforcement will continue and intensify to protect northern residents.
• Israel reportedly conducted artillery strikes and destroyed residential blocks in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.
• Israel announced on Sunday that it received the bodies of three hostages from the Red Cross in Gaza.
• Iran’s President said Tehran will rebuild its nuclear facilities with greater power, according to state media.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE

• US Pentagon approved the transfer of US Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, according to a CNN report on Friday, while the Russian Foreign Ministry said regarding reports about the US approval of Tomahawk supplies to Ukraine, that sending weapons to Kyiv will not help any settlement, according to RIA.
• Ukraine drone attack causes fire at Russian Black Sea port of Tuapse, while authorities announced that an oil tanker and two foreign civilian vessels were damaged as a result of the drone attack on Russia’s Tuapse.
• Ukraine’s military said it is raising the number of its assault groups to counteract Russian troops and that it has improved positions in several districts in Pokrovsk. However, it also stated that the situation in Pokrovsk remains complicated and dynamic, while Russia’s Defence Ministry said Ukrainian soldiers surrounded in Pokrovsk began to surrender.

OTHER

• US President Trump threatened to cut off all US aid to Nigeria over the killing of Christians and said the US might go into Nigeria with “guns-a-blazing”, while he instructed the Department of War to prepare for possible action.
• US and China agreed to set up direct communication between their militaries to help avoid conflict, according to US Secretary of War Hegseth, who also said the administration supports a strong and independent Vietnam, while the US wants a deeper military relationship with Vietnam and wants to expand the partnership with Vietnam and work to advance shared interests. Furthermore, Hegseth announced that the US military carried out another ‘lethal kinetic strike’ on a vessel in the Caribbean.
• South Korean President Lee said they will aid US President Trump to play a peacemaker role on North Korea.
• China criticised Japanese PM Takaichi for meeting with Taiwanese officials on the sidelines of APEC.
• Philippines signed a military pact with Canada as the former seeks to build a coalition of allies to deter China's aggression in the South China Sea.

ASIA-PAC

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• Chinese President Xi said at APEC that they should deepen open-source technological cooperation and create a competitive open innovation ecosystem. Xi also stated that China is to develop the ‘silver economy’ to address ageing population challenges and will continue to implement relevant initiatives on clean energy and green transformation. It was separately reported that Xi said the conditions and underlying trend of long-term growth of the Chinese economy remain unchanged, according to Xinhua.
• Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Chan said the city is set to achieve its annual target of 2%-3% for 2025 and noted that the economy grew 3.8% in Q3, which was the fastest pace of growth since Q4 2023.
• South Korea and Singapore agreed to cooperate on defence technology and signed an MOU on AI and green shipping, according to Korea’s presidential office.
• RBNZ 2025 stress test results noted that large banks are well placed to withstand the solvency and liquidity impact of a severe scenario caused by worsening geopolitical risks.

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• UK Chancellor Reeves was reported on Friday to be plotting a tax raid of as much as GBP 4bln on pension perks as she targets higher earners in the Budget, according to The Telegraph.
• EU is devising plans to expand supervision of key financial markets infrastructure, including stock exchanges, crypto exchanges and clearing houses, as it seeks to eliminate fragmentation in the single market, according to FT.