Weekend News Round Up - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

• US stocks were mixed on Black Friday with trade muted amid shortened hours and thinned conditions.
• Hundreds of demonstrators conducted protests in cities including Beijing and Shanghai to express their discontent against China’s strict COVID measures, while the protests have lasted for 3 days so far. In relevant news, China’s Shenzhen announced to limit restaurants and other indoor venues to 50% occupancy and said new arrivals to the city will be barred from entering venues such as theatres and gyms for the first 3 days as part of COVID measures, while it also asked the public to work from home, according to Reuters.
• US Treasury Department is to issue an expanded licence to allow Chevron to import Venezuelan crude oil to the US, while the licences will allow Chevron to take part in oil activities in Venezuela that were previously banned by the US and also permit them to send products to Venezuela needed to refine heavy crude into exportable grades.
• Adobe said Black Friday online spending rose by 2.3% Y/Y to a record USD 9.12bln, while it expects e-commerce spending of more than USD 9bln over the weekend and for Cyber Monday online sales to grow 5.1% Y/Y to USD 11.2bln, according to Reuters.
• Looking ahead, highlights include Australian Retail Sales, RBA Governor Lowe Speech, Australian Supply.

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LOOKING AHEAD

• Australian Retail Sales, RBA Governor Lowe Speech, Australian Supply.
• Click here for the Week Ahead preview

US TRADE

EQUITIES

• US stocks were mixed on Black Friday with trade muted amid shortened hours and thinned conditions.
• SPX -0.03% at 4,026, NDX -0.70% at 11,756, DJIA +0.45% at 34,347, RUT +0.30% at 1,869.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• Adobe said Black Friday online spending rose by 2.3% Y/Y to a record USD 9.12bln and that electronics was a major growth driver with online sales up 221% over the average day in October 2022, while it expects e-commerce spending of more than USD 9bln over the weekend and for Cyber Monday online sales to grow 5.1% Y/Y to USD 11.2bln, according to Reuters.

GLOBAL

• Economists said that key indicators suggest that global inflation has peaked with the pace of headline inflation set to slow in the approaching months, while Moody's analytics noted that inflation is likely at its apex, according to FT.

COMMODITIES

• US Treasury Department is to issue an expanded licence to allow Chevron to import Venezuelan crude oil to the US, while the licences will allow Chevron to take part in oil activities in Venezuela that were previously banned by the US and also permit them to send products to Venezuela needed to refine heavy crude into exportable grades. Furthermore, the licence is time-limited to 6 months and can be revoked if President Maduro does not negotiate in good faith or follow through on commitments, according to Reuters.
• Iraq’s SOMO said the OPEC+ cut decision in October didn’t decrease Iraq’s crude exports and the decision to cut helps maintain market stability. Iraq also stated that it produces 11% of total OPEC+ output and noted that the upcoming meeting will take into account current market conditions, while it sees oil prices to range USD 85-95/bbl next year, according to Reuters. There were also comments from Iraq’s OPEC representative that the country will increase oil capacity by 150k-250k BPD by 2023 and that Iraq will add 1mln-1.5mln BPD of oil export capacity by 2025.
• Kuwait’s KPIC shipped the first shipment of aviation jet fuel from the Al Zour refinery to UAE and Oman.
• BP’s (BP/ LN) Rotterdam refinery is resuming some operations after being idle for a week amid a pay dispute with workers, according to Reuters.
• Norway’s Gassco decreased the unplanned gas outage impact at fields delivering into Segal which was revised to a decline of 12.0 MCM/day from a decline of 14.9 MCM/day, according to Reuters.

GEOPOLITICAL

• Russian Defence Ministry said nine Russian prisoners of war were released as part of a prisoner exchange with Ukraine on Saturday, according to Reuters citing Russian news agencies.
• UK military intelligence said Russia is likely removing nuclear warheads from ageing nuclear cruise missiles and firing unarmed munitions at Ukraine which highlights a depletion in its stock of missiles, according to Reuters.
• North Korean leader Kim ordered to promote officials and scientists responsible for nuclear forces and said that building the nuclear force is the most important cause, while their ultimate goal is to possess the world’s most powerful strategic force. Kim added that recent ICBM launches demonstrated their firm resolution and decisive ability to build the world’s strongest army, while its new ICBM clearly proved that North Korea is a full-fledged nuclear power and can withstand the supremacy of the US. Furthermore, Kim said scientists have made a ‘wonderful leap forward’ in technology for mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles and should continue to expand and strengthen the nuclear deterrent at an extraordinary pace, according to KCNA.

ASIA-PAC

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• Hundreds of demonstrators conducted protests in cities including Beijing and Shanghai to express their discontent against China’s strict COVID measures, while the protests have so far lasted for 3 days, according to BBC and Reuters.
• China’s Shenzhen announced to limit restaurants and other indoor venues to 50% occupancy and said new arrivals to the city will be barred from entering venues such as theatres and gyms for the first 3 days as part of COVID measures, while it also asked the public to work from home, according to Reuters.
• PBoC cut Reserve Requirement Ratio (RRR) by 25bps on Friday to keep liquidity ample with the cut effective from December 5th. PBoC said the weighted average for the RRR of financial institutions is now 7.80% and that they will strengthen the implementation of prudent policy. Furthermore, its focus is on supporting the real economy and preventing flood-like stimulus and said that its actions will release around CNY 500bln in long-term liquidity.
• Taiwan’s ruling DPP conceded defeat in the key Taipei mayoral election and Taiwanese President Tsai resigned as chairwoman of the ruling party following poor local election results but rejected an offer from Premier Su Tseng-chang to resign. Furthermore, the Chinese government said that the local Taiwan elections showed the mainstream opinion on the island is for peace, stability and a good life, while it will keep working with Taiwan’s people to promote peaceful relations and firmly oppose Taiwan independence, according to Reuters.
• BoJ Deputy Governor Amamiya said climate risks could have a negative impact on Japan’s financial system and that climate change has an extremely big impact on economic, price and financial developments in the medium and long term, according to Reuters.
• South Korean Transport Ministry is to meet with the striking truckers’ union on Monday, according to an official cited by Reuters.