US stocks were choppy and treasuries bull-flattened amid mixed data including a drop in JOLTS job openings- Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

• US stocks were choppy and the major indices finished little changed whilst the Russell 2k unwound some of its recent outperformance as markets digested mixed data releases including a tumble in JOLTS job opening which spurred a dovish reaction but was offset by stronger-than-expected ISM Services, while treasuries bull-flattened following recent dovish central bank updates.
• USD was firmer and the DXY briefly reclaimed the 104.00 status after strong ISM Services data offset the dovish JOLTS data which showed October job openings at their lowest since 2021, while participants await further labour market data ahead including ADP employment on Wednesday, jobless claims on Thursday and Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday which is expected to be upwardly biased due to the return of striking workers.
• Looking ahead, highlights include Australian GDP, Thailand CPI, Supply from Australia.

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LOOKING AHEAD

• Highlights include Australian GDP, Thailand CPI, Supply from Australia.
• Click here for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.

US TRADE

• US stocks were choppy and the major indices finished little changed whilst the Russell 2k unwound some of its recent outperformance as markets digested mixed data releases including a tumble in JOLTS job opening which spurred a dovish reaction but was offset by stronger-than-expected ISM Services, while treasuries bull-flattened following recent dovish central bank updates.
• SPX -0.06% at 4,567, NDX +0.24% at 15,877, DJIA -0.22% at 36,124, RUT -1.38% at 1,856.
• Click here for a detailed summary.

DATA RECAP

• US ISM Services PMI (Nov) 52.7 vs. Exp. 52.0 (Prev. 51.8)
• US S&P Global Services PMI Final (Nov) 50.8 (Prev. 50.8)
• US S&P Global Composite Final PMI (Nov) 50.7 (Prev. 50.7)
• US JOLTS Job Openings (Oct) 8.7M vs. Exp. 9.3M (Prev. 9.6M, Rev. 9.4M)

FX

• USD was firmer and the DXY briefly reclaimed the 104.00 status after strong ISM Services data offset the dovish JOLTS data which showed October job openings at their lowest since 2021, while participants await further labour market data ahead including ADP employment on Wednesday, jobless claims on Thursday and Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday which is expected to be upwardly biased due to the return of striking workers.
• EUR retreated below 1.0800 against the stronger dollar with the single currency also pressured following dovish ECB rhetoric.
• GBP weakened beneath 1.2600 amid declines across cyclical currencies ahead of the BoE FSR and comments from Governor Bailey.
• JPY outperformed other G10 peers and held its ground against the dollar amid softer US yields and haven appeal.

FIXED INCOME

• Treasuries bull-flattened following recent dovish global central bank updates and softening US labour market data.

COMMODITIES

• Oil prices were choppy and finished lower with jawboning from Russia's Novak overshadowed by a stronger dollar.
• US Energy Inventory Data (bbls): Crude +0.6mln (exp. -1.4mln), Gasoline +2.8mln (exp. +1.0mln), Distillate +0.9mln (exp. +1.5mln), Cushing +4.3mln.
• Saudi Arabia cut its Arab light crude OSP to Asia by USD 0.50/bbl to plus USD 3.50/bbl vs Oman/Dubai average.
• Qatar set January marine crude OSP at Oman/Dubai plus USD 0.90/bbl (prev. +2.00/bbl in December) and land crude OSP at Oman/Dubai plus USD 0.10/bbl (prev. +2.35/bbl in December), according to a pricing document.
• Russia’s Kremlin said President Putin and Saudi Crown Prince MBS will discuss OPEC+ cooperation, while it added that the coordination of Russia and Saudi at OPEC+ is a firm guarantee of safeguarding the stability of the global oil market, according to Interfax. The heads of Russian oil companies will be in Putin's delegation to the UAE and Putin is to discuss the conflict in Ukraine during talks with Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Iran.
• Russian Deputy PM Novak said Russia will start tightening restrictions on oil and fuel supplies under OPEC+ as early as December. Furthermore, he said Russia intends to fulfil its obligations to voluntarily reduce oil and fuel supplies as early as January, while OPEC+ countries are ready to strengthen oil production cuts in Q1 2024 to eliminate speculation and volatility, according to TASS.
• Codelco said copper production fell 5.7% Y/Y to 128k tons in October (prev. 116.7k tons in September), while Escondida copper production fell 11.3% to 88.4k tons in October and Collahuasi copper production rose 22% to 54.8k tons in October.

GEOPOLITICS

• Hamas official said there will be no negotiations or exchange of detainees until the aggression against Gaza stops.
• A Lebanese soldier was killed, and three others were wounded in an Israeli shelling near Odaisseh, southern Lebanon.
• US is expected to announce sanctions on Israeli settlers involved in attacks against Palestinians, according to Axios.
• Israel went to countries including Britain and Japan to form a special operations force to work in the Red Sea following the attack against three commercial ships and an American destroyer, according to Al Jazeera citing Israeli media.
• Gulf summit declaration warned of the dangers of expanding confrontations in Gaza and the spread of the conflict.
• Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov signed an agreement on countering unilateral sanctions at bilateral talks in Moscow with Iranian Foreign Minister Abdollahian, according to TASS.
• Ukrainian President's chief of staff said if US assistance being debated in Congress is postponed, there will be a big risk Ukraine could lose the war.

ASIA-PAC

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• China’s Finance Ministry said China’s economy will maintain its rebound and positive trend, while it expects the economy to keep the positive trend in Q4 and noted the impact of the downturn in the real estate market on the local general public budget and government fund budget is controllable and structural.
• China's educational authorities called on schools nationwide to enhance disease monitoring as the country continues to witness a surge in respiratory illness and advised students and teachers not to attend school if ill, according to Global Times.
• Secretary-General of the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU said the EU should address the concerns of Chinese companies doing business in the region while taking concrete steps to boost China-EU business relations. Furthermore, the Chinese business community in the region hopes for a joint China-EU stance against "decoupling" so that both sides can foster more stable and smoother global industrial and supply chains, according to Global Times.
• Moody's affirmed China’s rating at A1; Outlook Revised to Negative from Stable which reflects risks relating to persistently lower medium-term economic growth and the ongoing downsizing of the property sector.

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• EU is reportedly set to propose a three-year delay for UK EV tariffs which will need to be approved by EU states first, according to Bloomberg.
• EU finance ministers are discussing debt reduction targets as part of a fiscal overhaul which could include a fiscal buffer of 1.5% of GDP, according to Bloomberg.
• ECB's Vujcic said his baseline is for no more rate hikes and decisions will be data dependent.
• ECB Survey of Consumer Expectations stated median consumer inflation expectations for the next 12 months and three years ahead remained unchanged.

DATA RECAP

• UK Services PMI Final (Nov) 50.9 vs. Exp. 50.5 (Prev. 50.5)
• UK Composite PMI Final (Nov) 50.7 vs. Exp. 50.1 (Prev. 50.1)
• EU Services Final PMI (Nov) 48.7 vs. Exp. 48.2 (Prev. 48.2)
• EU Global Composite Final PMI (Nov) 47.6 vs. Exp. 47.1 (Prev. 47.1)
• EU Producer Prices MM (Oct) 0.2% vs. Exp. 0.2% (Prev. 0.5%)
• EU Producer Prices YY (Oct) -9.4% vs. Exp. -9.5% (Prev. -12.4%)