Weekend News Round Up - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

• US stocks were mixed on Friday as a rally at the NY open unwound throughout the session which saw the SPX and DJIA finish more or less flat albeit with slight gains, while the NDX was supported as Tesla shares surged again for its 11th consecutive daily gain after the announcement it had partnered with GM to use its North American charging network and technologies. As such, the Nasdaq posted its 7th consecutive weekly gain for its longest winning streak since 2019 and the S&P 500 notched its 4th straight weekly gain which is the longest since the summer of last year.
• Ukraine said its troops recaptured three villages from Russian forces in the southeast of the country which were the first results of its counteroffensive. In relevant news, Russia said Ukraine made an unsuccessful attempt to attack a vessel which was protecting gas pipelines in the Black Sea, while it was also reported that 3 people were killed and 10 wounded by Russian shelling of an evacuation boat in the flooded Kherson region.
• Looking ahead, highlights include New Zealand Electronic Card Retail Sales, Japanese PPI & Machine Tool Orders.

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US TRADE

• US stocks were mixed on Friday as a rally at the NY open unwound throughout the session which saw the SPX and DJIA finish more or less flat albeit with slight gains, while the NDX was supported as Tesla shares surged again for its 11th consecutive daily gain after the announcement it had partnered with GM to use its North American charging network and technologies. As such, the Nasdaq posted its 7th consecutive weekly gain for its longest winning streak since 2019 and the S&P 500 notched its 4th straight weekly gain which is the longest since the summer of last year.
• SPX +0.12% at 4,298, NDX +0.30% at 14,528, DJIA +0.13% at 33,876, RUT -0.80% at 1,865.
• Click here for a detailed summary.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• Interstate 95 which is the main north-south Interstate Highway for the East Coast of the US partially collapsed in Philadelphia after a tanker caught fire underneath the highway, while the US Transportation Secretary said the I95 closure will have a significant impact until the recovery is complete.

FX

• Nigeria’s new President suspended the country’s central bank Governor, according to Reuters.

COMMODITIES

• Saudi Energy Minister said Saudi Arabia and China have plenty of synergies and that demand for oil in China is still growing, while he wouldn’t be surprised if there will be more announcements soon on Saudi-Chinese investments and China will be more engaged with them on mid-stream business. Saudi’s Energy Minister also said that they went through a comprehensive reform to achieve the OPEC+ agreement and they are working against uncertainty and sentiment, as well as noted that Saudi and OPEC+ are more interested in doing a regulator job, according to Reuters.
• US is expected to begin unloading oil from a seized Iranian tanker which risks escalating a shadow tanker war with Tehran, according to FT.
• Venezuela’s PDVSA resumed operations in the El Palito refinery, according to Reuters.
• Goldman Sachs cuts its Brent crude forecast for December to USD 86/bbl from 95/bbl.

GEOPOLITICAL

• Ukraine said its troops recaptured three villages from Russian forces in the southeast of the country which were the first results of its counteroffensive. In relevant news, Russia said Ukraine made an unsuccessful attempt to attack a vessel which was protecting gas pipelines in the Black Sea, while it was also reported that 3 people were killed and 10 wounded by Russian shelling of an evacuation boat in the flooded Kherson region.
• Ukraine and Russia announced a return of prisoners following negotiations in which 94 Russian soldiers and 95 Ukrainian soldiers were freed and returned, according to Reuters and TASS.
• Russian Kremlin spokesperson Peskov said there were no arrangements and no preconditions for talks with the Kyiv regime and that Russia sees Kyiv’s unwillingness to engage in dialogue, according to RIA.
• Head of Russia’s Wagner Group Prigozhin said Wagner fighters will not sign any contract with Russia’s Defence Ministry amid an attempt by the Russian Defence Minister to take control of its ranks, according to Daily Mail.
• Canadian PM Trudeau announced CAD 500mln in new funding for military assistance for Ukraine and said Canada will be part of a multinational effort to train Ukrainian fighter pilots, while he added that Canada is seizing Russian-owned Antonov cargo aircraft and starting the process of forfeiting the aircraft to Ukraine, according to Reuters.
• German Chancellor Scholz said he plans to talk to Russian President Putin soon and urge him to withdraw troops from Ukraine, according to Reuters.
• French President Macron expressed concerns about the current trajectory of the Iranian nuclear programme to Iranian President Raisi during a phone call on Saturday and warned about the consequences of drone deliveries to Russia, according to Reuters.
• Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei said Tehran should continue working with the UN nuclear watchdog under the framework of safeguards and that reaching an agreement with the West is fine but the country’s nuclear industry should be respected. Iran’s Supreme Leader also commented that talks about Iran’s nuclear weapons are a lie and they do not want nuclear arms based on religious beliefs, while he added that the West could not stop Iran from building nuclear arms if it chose to, according to state media.

ASIA-PAC

NOTABLE APAC HEADLINES

• White House confirmed that China has had a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019, according to Associated Press.
• China’s Foreign Ministry issued a complaint to South Korea over recent criticism of its envoy and hopes that South Korea deeply reflects on problems in Sino-South Korea relations, according to state media.

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• Police in Scotland arrested former Scottish First Minister Sturgeon in an investigation into SNP finances but she was later released without charge pending further investigation, according to FT.
• German Finance Minister Lindner ruled out extra funds for the Intel (INTC) chip plant, according to FT.
• Credit Suisse (CSGN SW) CEO memo signalled that UBS (UBSG SW) deal is to close on Monday, while it was separately reported that UBS set red lines for Credit Suisse staff after takeover completion with UBS to impose tight restrictions on Credit Suisse bankers including a ban on new clients from high-risk countries and on complex financial products, according to Reuters and FT.
• Fitch affirmed Greece at BB+; Outlook Stable.