Weekend News Round Up - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

• US stocks were mixed on Friday with notable outperformance in the Nasdaq as tech was supported by a strong earnings report from Broadcom (AVGO), seeing the stock rally 24% and supporting the sector.
• China has room to further cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR), according to PBoC official on Saturday via CCTV.
• South Korean MPs have successfully voted to impeach President Yoon in their second attempt while PM Han is to continue as acting president, according to Yonhap.
• Moody's cut France’s rating to "Aa3" from "Aa2", outlook stable, in an unscheduled rating revision, citing political fragmentation.
• Looking ahead, highlights include Japanese Machinery Orders, South Korean Trade Balance Revision, Japanese PMIs, Chinese House Prices and Activity Data.

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SNAPSHOT

• Click for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.

US TRADE

• US stocks were mixed on Friday with notable outperformance in the Nasdaq as tech was supported by a strong earnings report from Broadcom (AVGO), seeing the stock rally 24% and supporting the sector.
• Consumer Discretionary also performed well thanks to upside in Tesla (TSLA) shares while other sectors were flat or red, with underperformance in Communication Services, Materials and Energy with downside in Meta (META) and Google (GOOGL) weighing on comms.
• SPX -1.4% at 5,447, NDX -2.4% at 18,890, DJIA -1.2% at 40,348, RUT -3.0% at 2,186.
• Click here for a detailed summary.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• Tesla (TSLA) has raised the price of the Model S to USD 79,990 from USD 74,990 in the US and the price of the Model S Plaid to USD 94,990 from USD 89,990, according to its website.
• Meta (MTEA) has urged the California Attorney General to stop OpenAI (MSFT) from becoming for-profit, according to WSJ.
• Nasdaq announced that Palantir Technologies (PLTR), MicroStrategy (MSTR), and Axon Enterprise (AXON) will be added to the index, while Illumina (ILMN), Super Micro Computer (SMCI), and Moderna (MRNA) will be removed as part of the annual reconstitution of the Nasdaq-100 Index, which will become effective prior to market open on Monday, December 23rd, according to Reuters.
• US to empower companies like Google (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT) to act as gatekeepers for access to AI chips, via Reuters citing sources.

DATA RECAP

• US Import Prices MM (Nov) 0.1% vs. Exp. -0.2% (Prev. 0.3%, Rev. 0.1%)
• Canadian Manufacturing Sales MM (Oct) 2.1% vs. Exp. 1.3% (Prev. -0.5%)
• Canadian Wholesale Trade MM (Oct) 1.0% vs. Exp. 0.5% (Prev. 0.8%)

COMMODITIES

• Marathon's Detroit refinery (140k BPD) union workers voted to ratify a pay deal following a three-month strike, according to a union post on X.
• Damage to two tankers in the Black Sea caused an oil products spill, according to Interfax.
• Nigeria's maritime agency reported an oil spill at the Shell loading terminal in Nigeria's Delta region after a pipeline ruptured, according to Reuters.
• Nornickel CEO Potanin said the company will move to positive free cash flow in 2025 and, until then, shareholders will need to be patient with dividends, according to Russian media RBC.

GEOPOLITICAL

MIDDLE EAST

• US President-elect Trump and Israeli PM discussed the Gaza hostage deal bid and Syria on Sunday, according to Reuters.
• Israeli PM Netanyahu’s government approved plan to expand settlements on Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The statement said Netanyahu acted “in light of the war and the new front facing Syria” and out of a desire to double the Israeli population on the Golan, according to Reuters.
• Russia is pulling back its military in Syria but is not withdrawing from its main military bases, Syrian sources say, according to Reuters.
• Trump's Middle East envoy has met with the Saudi crown prince, according to Axios.

US-CHINA

• US Treasury Secretary Yellen said the Treasury continues to warn China about the potential for bank sanctions over transactions aiding Russia's war effort in Ukraine and will not rule out sanctions on Chinese banks. She noted that the largest Chinese banks are wary of the consequences. Yellen also said the US aims to reduce Russia's energy revenues, with options such as lowering the oil price cap and imposing more sanctions on 'dark fleet' tankers being considered. She emphasised the need for clear communication channels at all levels between the US and China, stating that leader-to-leader discussions alone are insufficient. Yellen added that the next US Treasury Secretary is likely to continue pushing back on currency manipulation if evidence is found.
• The US is preparing rules that would restrict the sale of advanced artificial-intelligence chips in certain parts of the world in an attempt to limit China’s ability to access them, according to WSJ citing sources.
• US to lift tariffs on Chinese polysilicon, wafers and tungsten from January 1st.

OTHER

• China's Foreign Minister, in a meeting with the French president's foreign affairs adviser, stressed that a trade war would only lead to a 'lose-lose' situation as they discussed China-EU economic and trade issues, according to Reuters.

ASIA-PAC

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• China has room to further cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR), according to PBoC official on Saturday via CCTV.
• China's Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission deputy director said the country's GDP is expected to grow by about 5% this year, with foreign exchange reserves remaining above USD 3.2tln. He added that China's contribution to global economic growth is expected to be close to 30% and that employment and prices in China are expected to remain stable, according to Reuters.
• South Korean MPs have successfully voted to impeach President Yoon in their second attempt, amid backlash following his brief move to impose martial law, according to BBC. Yoon was suspended from official duties at 7:24 pm local time on Saturday while PM Han is to continue as acting president, according to Yonhap.
• South Korea's acting president Han vowed to leave no vacuum in state affairs, build a solid security posture, and ensure the cabinet works hard to maintain trust with the US, Japan, and other partners. He also pledged efforts to operate financial and forex markets smoothly, according to Yonhap. Acting president Han said the country will maintain preparedness to prevent North Korea from stirring up provocations, secure national interests ahead of the new US administration, and prioritise national security above all else, according to News1 and Yonhap.
• South Korea's opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said the party has decided not to proceed with the impeachment of acting president Han, according to Reuters.
• Bank of Korea stated it is necessary to respond more actively to the economic impact compared with past impeachment periods, given heightened challenges in external conditions. It also said it will use all available policy instruments, in conjunction with the government, to respond to and avert escalation of volatility in financial and forex markets, according to Reuters.
• South Korea's Finance Minister said the government will continue to swiftly deploy market-stabilising measures as needed, seek more support measures for vulnerable sectors, and actively communicate with parliament to keep the economy stable. The minister also confirmed that the bi-annual economic policy plan will be announced before the end of the year, according to Reuters.
• South Korea's financial regulator said it will expand market-stabilising funds if needed to boost liquidity in bond and short-term money markets and expects financial markets to stabilise as recent political events are temporary shocks, according to Reuters.
• The US Treasury has told Nippon Steel that the panel vetting its proposed acquisition of US Steel has not reached a consensus on how to mitigate security risks, according to the FT.
• TSMC's (TSM) first Japan fab is reportedly on track for mass production by year-end, according to Nikkei; mass production will begin at the Kumamoto plant by year-end.
• China (Nov) Aggregate Financing (CNY) 29.4tln (exp. 29.791tln); M2 Money Supply 7.1% (exp. 7.5%).
• China's NPC Standing Committee to hold meeting 21-25th December, according to Xinhua.
• BoJ reportedly weighs skipping a rate hike at the next policy meeting, according to Kyodo.

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• Moody's cut France’s rating to "Aa3" from "Aa2", outlook stable, in an unscheduled rating revision, citing political fragmentation. Moody's said its view is that France's public finances will be substantially weakened over the coming years. The agency noted that France's political fragmentation is more likely to impede meaningful fiscal consolidation and said there is now a very low probability that the next French government will sustainably reduce the size of fiscal deficits beyond next year. However, France's local- and foreign-currency ceilings remain unchanged at AAA, according to Moody's.
• French Presidency statement says Bayrou named new French PM.
• ECB Holzmann said it would be wrong to cut rates just to help the economy, according to Reuters.
• Novo Nordisk's (NOVOB DC) Ozempic was found to cause vision loss in a small number of patients, according to a study cited by Bloomberg.

DATA RECAP

• UK GDP Estimate MM (Oct) -0.1% vs. Exp. 0.1% (Prev. -0.1%); YY 1.3% vs. Exp. 1.6% (Prev. 1.0%); 3M/3M 0.1% vs. Exp. 0.1% (Prev. 0.1%)
• UK GfK Consumer Confidence (Dec) -17.0 vs. Exp. -18.0 (Prev. -18.0)
• German Wholesale Price Index MM (Nov) 0% (Prev. 0.4%); YY -0.6% (Prev. -0.8%)