Weekend News Round Up - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

• US stocks finished mixed on Friday with the major indices relatively flat on what was a quiet trading session amid a lack of major catalysts and with little on the calendar, while attention turns to the upcoming Jackson Hole Symposium.
• PBoC and financial regulators met with bank executives and told lenders to boost loans to support economic recovery, while it said it will better implement prudent monetary policy in a precise and powerful manner,
• Looking ahead, highlights include New Zealand Trade Data & Credit Card Spending, UK Rightmove House Prices, Thai GDP, PBoC Loan Prime Rates, Holiday Closure in Philippines.

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LOOKING AHEAD

• Highlights include New Zealand Trade Data & Credit Card Spending, UK Rightmove House Prices, Thai GDP, PBoC Loan Prime Rates, Holiday Closure in Philippines.

US TRADE

• US stocks finished mixed on Friday with the major indices relatively flat on what was a quiet trading session amid a lack of major catalysts and with little on the calendar, while attention turns to the upcoming Jackson Hole Symposium.
• SPX -0.01% at 4,369, NDX -0.14% at 14,694, DJIA +0.07% at 34,500, RUT +0.51% at 1,859.
• Click here for a detailed summary.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• Tropical storm Hilary moved towards the Baja California peninsula and the southwestern US.

FX

• Turkish Central Bank ended implementation that stipulates a target for conversion from foreign currency deposits to FX-protected deposits and ended securities maintenance and reserve requirement practice based on the Turkish lira share of FX-protected deposits, while it stated that regulations were aimed to increase Turkish lira deposits while decreasing FX-protected deposits.

GEOPOLITICAL

• Ukrainian President Zelensky arrived in the Netherlands for a meeting with Dutch PM Rutte, while it was also reported that Netherlands and Denmark committed to delivering F-16s to Ukraine with the first deliveries due around the new year, according to Reuters.
• Russian President Putin met high-ranking military commanders in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, according to RIA citing a Kremlin statement which did not specify the reason for the meeting.
• Russia conducted a missile strike on Ukraine’s Chernihiv which killed 5 and wounded 37.
• Russian Defence Ministry said anti-aircraft defences prevented an attack on the Belgorod region by two drones and that Russia destroyed a Ukrainian drone in the Moscow region early on Sunday, while Russia briefly halted flights to Moscow’s Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports although all Moscow airports are now operating normally.
• China’s military said it held a joint naval and air combat readiness patrol around Taiwan on Saturday and that this is a serious warning to Taiwan independence separatist forces, while Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said early on Sunday that 25 Chinese air force planes crossed the Taiwan Strait median line during the prior 24 hours, according to Reuters.
• Taiwan’s Presidential Office said China is ignoring their international responsibilities, increasing military threats and undermining regional stability, while it added that transits of Taiwanese leaders should not be an excuse for China to pick quarrels. It was also reported that the US State Department urged China to cease military, diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan.
• Russia-China naval drill in the Pacific Ocean has finished, according to Russia’s Defence Ministry cited by Interfax.
• North Korean leader Kim inspects cruise missile test and navy unit, according to Yonhap
• Iran summoned the Swedish and Danish Charges d’affaires over Koran desecration in the two countries, according to IRNA.

ASIA-PAC

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• PBoC and financial regulators met with bank executives and told lenders to boost loans to support an economic recovery, according to Bloomberg.
• PBoC said it will better implement prudent monetary policy in a precise and powerful manner, while it added that major financial institutions should step up loans and major banks should play pillar roles. Furthermore, it will keep credit growth stable and guide smooth credit function, as well as coordinate on resolving local government debt risks and will adjust and optimise credit policies for the property sector, according to Reuters.
• China is to push for the BRICS to become a geopolitical rival to the G7 with leaders from across developing nations to meet this week, according to FT.
• US President Biden is to sign a strategic partnership deal with Vietnam in the latest bid to counter China in the region, according to Politico.
• Singapore PM Lee said during an annual policy address that Singapore is keeping up economically and expects positive growth this year, while he hopes they will avoid a recession and said inflation is coming down but will stay higher than what they are used to. Furthermore, he said there will be financial support for workers who lose jobs and announced a SGD 7bln package for ‘young’ seniors to help with retirement.

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• UK PM Sunak is to spend GBP 100mln of taxpayer money on thousands of high-powered AI chips in an effort to catch up in the race for computing power, according to The Telegraph.
• Fitch affirmed Netherlands at AAA; Outlook Stable on Friday.