Memorial Day News Round Up - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

• US stock markets were closed for Memorial Day.
• US President Biden said he feels good about prospects for passage of the debt ceiling deal, while he waved off GOP concerns about defence spending and said if more money is needed it can be appropriated, according to Reuters.
• China rejected the US request for a meeting between US Defence Secretary Austin and his Chinese counterpart, while the Pentagon said in a statement that China’s decision is concerning.
• Looking ahead, highlights include New Zealand Building Permits, Australian Building Approvals, Japanese Unemployment Rate, Supply from Japan.

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LOOKING AHEAD

• Highlights include New Zealand Building Permits, Australian Building Approvals, Japanese Unemployment Rate, Supply from Japan.

US TRADE

• US stock markets were closed for Memorial Day.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• US President Biden said he feels good about prospects for passage of the debt ceiling deal, while he waved off GOP concerns about defence spending and said if more money is needed it can be appropriated, according to Reuters.
• US Democrats and Republicans are confident they can pass the deal to avert a US default, according to FT. It was also reported that the US House Rules Committee will meet on Tuesday to discuss the debt ceiling bill, according to Reuters.
• Tesla (TSLA) CEO Musk is expected to visit China this week to meet with senior Chinese officials and visit the Shanghai plant, according to sources cited by Reuters.

FX

• Riksbank’s Jansson said the SEK could be a serious problem and should not continue to weaken on a trend basis, while he added they are a long way from a currency intervention which in his view would be a last resort. Jansson stated that he doesn’t like currency intervention as a plan in the current monetary policy regime and it would have to be an exceptional situation, as well as noted there is a question on how effective a currency intervention would be. Furthermore, he said their main tools are the interest rate and the asset portfolio, while he is ready to raise rates as much as needed to deal with inflation, according to Reuters.

COMMODITIES

• OPEC Secretary General Al Ghais said OPEC will welcome back Iran’s full return to the market when sanctions are lifted and commented that all OPEC decisions are made in order to have a good balance between global oil demand and supply, according to Shana.
• Venezuelan President Maduro said they will propose that South America as a region asks the US to lift sanctions against Venezuela, according to Reuters.

GEOPOLITICAL

• Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday that its forces hit Ukrainian air bases overnight and that all targets were destroyed, while Kyiv’s military administration said all missiles fired at Kyiv on Monday morning were shot down and no targets were hit, according to RIA and Reuters.
• Russia’s Belgorod regional Governor said several settlements were shelled by Ukrainian forces and two industrial facilities were attacked in the town of Shebekino which wounded four employees, according to Reuters.
• Ukrainian presidential aide said a post-war settlement must involve a demilitarised zone of 100km-120km in Russian regions bordering Ukraine and should probably initially have an international control contingent, according to Reuters.
• Russia’s Kremlin said a vacuum is emerging in arms control due to poor relations between a number of states, according to Reuters.
• Russia’s interior ministry put US Senator Graham on its wanted list after his comments last week in which he stated that “Russians are dying” and later said that US military aid to Ukraine is “the best money we ever spent”, according to The Hill.
• Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said less than 3% of grain exported within the Black Sea grain initiative reached the poorest countries and that part of the deal applying to Russia was not being fulfilled at all, while he added that if nothing will change, the deal will no longer be operational, according to Reuters.
• US said any North Korean launch that uses ballistic missile technology would violate UN resolutions and urged it to refrain from further ‘unlawful activity’.
• Iran said that 14 members of a “terrorist team” linked to Israel were arrested in north-western Iran, according to Tasnim.

ASIA-PAC

NOTABLE APAC HEADLINES

• China rejected the US request for a meeting with US Defence Secretary Austin, while the Pentagon said in a statement that China’s decision is concerning.

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• Spanish PM Sanchez called a snap general election for July 23rd after his Socialist party suffered a resounding defeat in local and regional elections on Sunday, according to FT.