Weekend News Round Up - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

• US stocks were pressured on Friday and havens were bid, while crude prices surged with price action driven by the fear of escalation in the Israel-Hamas conflict with the Israeli military building up on the Gaza strip border.
• Iranian Foreign Minister said ‘If the Zionist aggressions do not stop, the hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger’ and warned heavy losses will be inflicted on the US if the scope of the Gaza war widens. Iran’s Foreign Minister also said that Iran will not remain an observer in this situation and informed Israel via its allies that ‘tomorrow will be too late’ if its crimes in Gaza continue.
• New Zealand shifted to the right in a rejection of the Labour Party and PM Hipkins conceded defeat, while National Party leader Luxon is set to be the next PM.
• Looking ahead, highlights include New Zealand Performance of Services Index, UK Rightmove House Prices, PBoC 1-Year MLF Rate.

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LOOKING AHEAD

• Highlights include New Zealand Performance of Services Index, UK Rightmove House Prices, PBoC 1-Year MLF Rate.

US TRADE

• US stocks were pressured on Friday and havens were bid, while crude prices surged with price action driven by the fear of escalation in the Israel-Hamas conflict with the Israeli military building up on the Gaza strip border.
• SPX -0.50% at 4,327, NDX -1.24% at 14,995, DJIA +0.12% at 33,670, RUT -0.84% at 1,719.
• Click here for a detailed summary.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• US House will vote on GOP Rep. Jim Jordan’s nomination for House Speaker on Tuesday at approximately 12:00EDT/17:00BST, according to Reuters.
• UAW said they unfortunately had to escalate their action and that they came to get another offer from Ford which gave them the exact same offer as two weeks ago, according to Reuters.
• US SEC chair Gensler urged regulators to tame AI risks to financial stability.

GEOPOLITICAL

ISRAEL-HAMAS

• Israeli military spokesperson said forces are preparing to implement a wide range of operational offensive plans which include combined coordinated strikes from the air, sea and land, while their goal is to completely destroy the governing and military capabilities of Hamas and other terrorist organisations. Furthermore, the spokesman said the operation will take a long time and that residents of Gaza should leave and not return until told to for their own safety but Hamas has been preventing people from leaving, according to Reuters.
• Israeli military spokesperson said Hezbollah is escalating the situation on the Lebanon border to hinder the Gaza counter-offensive and Israel is prepared to fight on two fronts and even more if required, while an Israeli military spokesman said more than 600,000 Gazans have relocated southwards and that more than 200 Hamas members in the West Bank were detained since October 7th.
• Israeli PM Netanyahu’s national security adviser said Israel is not trying to be drawn into a two-front war and that Hezbollah's actions are under the escalation threshold so far, while the adviser added they hope Hezbollah won’t de facto bring about the destruction of Lebanon, according to Reuters.
• Iranian President Raisi said in a phone call with French President Macron that ’the Zionist regime’s actions are a reminder of Nazi actions’, while he also stated that Palestinian resistance groups make their own decisions and urged France to prevent oppression and injustice, according to Reuters.
• Iranian Foreign Minister said ‘If the Zionist aggressions do not stop, the hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger’ and warned heavy losses will be inflicted on the US if the scope of the Gaza war widens. Iran’s Foreign Minister also said that Iran will not remain an observer in this situation and informed Israel via its allies that ‘tomorrow will be too late’ if its crimes in Gaza continue.
• Iran’s mission to the UN said if Israel’s ‘war crimes, genocide’ is not halted immediately, the situation could ricochet far-reaching consequences.
• US National Security Adviser Sullivan said the US does not have new intelligence that the threat on the ground is different today and there is a risk of conflict escalation. Sullivan added that they cannot rule out that Iran would choose to get directly engaged in some way and that the US is concerned about proxy forces, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran, according to a CBS interview.
• US Secretary of State Blinken will head back to Israel on Monday for further consultations with Israeli leaders.
• US officials said the US is sending a second aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean, according to ABC News.
• US Senate Majority Leader Schumer said he will lead an effort in the Senate to provide Israel with the support required to fully defend itself, while he told Israeli leaders it is important to minimise civilian casualties in Gaza.
• US Secretary of State Blinken said his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince MBS was very productive, while the Saudi Crown Prince stressed in a meeting with US Secretary of State Blinken the kingdom’s refusal to target civilians in any way or disrupt infrastructure and vital interests that affect the lives of the Palestinian people. Furthermore, the Saudi Crown Prince emphasised the Kingdom’s desire to intensify communication while working to calm the situation in Gaza and help lift the siege, according to Reuters.
• UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL said its headquarters in South Lebanon was hit by a rocket and military escalation continues at the Lebanon-Israel border despite their efforts.
• Syria said Aleppo airport is out of service following an Israeli air strike.
• Russia asked the UN Security Council to vote on Monday on the draft resolution on Israel and Gaza calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
• Egypt proposed a summit on current developments and the future of the Palestinian issue, according to Reuters.
• Israeli Communications Minister said they are seeking cabinet approval for a proposed shutdown of Al Jazeera and said Qatar’s Al Jazeera is helping Hamas, inciting against Israel, and is filming Israeli troops in vulnerable areas.

OTHER

• Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev raised the Azerbaijani flag in the city of Khankendi which is the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh which is known as Stepanakert by Armenians, according to state news.
• Ukraine’s Finance Minister said donor tiredness is growing as the war drags on, according to Reuters.
• Russian President Putin said Russian forces improved their position at almost the entire contact line with Ukrainian forces.
• Russia’s Black Sea fleet conducted drills with rocket launchers in Crimea, according to the Sevastopol Governor.
• Russia scrambled a SU-27 as a US Global Hawk drone approached the Russian border over the Black Sea, according to IFAX the Russian Defence Ministry.

ASIA-PAC

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• PBoC said the number of bright spots in China’s economy is increasing and China will pay more attention to the balance between economic growth and sustainability, while China will focus on expanding domestic demand, boosting confidence and accelerating the virtuous circle of the economy, according to Reuters.
• PBoC Governor Pan met with IMF MD Georgieva and said China is looking forward to the timely conclusion of the 16th IMF quota review increase and realignment with the quota realignment fundamental to IMF’s governance form. PBoC’s Pan also stated the IMF’s quota realignment should reflect members’ relative weights in the global economy and strengthen the voice and representations of emerging markets and developing countries.
• China’s securities regulator said will restrict securities lending and appropriately curb securities lending by strategic investors and senior management of listed firms, according to Reuters.
• EU foreign policy chief Borrell said the EU has ties with China that are independent of other nations, while it was also reported that EU’s Mora is to visit China for follow-up talks.
• IMF senior official said their sense is that exchange rates are driven pretty much by fundamentals and the yen will continue to face pressure as long as interest rate differentials remain, according to Reuters.
• Japan is planning for an extra parliament session to run through the mid-December.
• New Zealand shifted to the right in a rejection of the Labour Party and PM Hipkins conceded defeat, while National Party leader Luxon is set to be the next PM.

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• BoE Governor Bailey said he is puzzled by stubborn pay growth in the UK but added that they have had some good news on inflation recently, while he also commented that workforce dropouts hit the UK growth and stoke prices.
• ECB President Lagarde said the labour market shows no real sign of weakening.
• ECB’s Nagel reiterated that inflation remains too high and policy is to remain restrictive for the foreseeable future.
• Polish PM Morawiecki said the ruling nationalists PiS will try to form a government if the president gives them this task after exit polls showed the ruling nationalists with 36.8% of votes and the largest opposition group Civic Coalition received 31.6% of votes, according to Reuters.