Weekend News Round Up - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

• US stocks were pressured on Friday, while crude and gold prices rallied amid geopolitical tensions after initial reports regarding an agreement of a ceasefire were swiftly denied and Israel upscaled their bombardment of Gaza, while Israel also announced it was preparing for new incursions into the Gaza Strip.
• Israeli PM Netanyahu said the ongoing ground operation in Gaza is the second stage of the war and said the war inside the Gaza Strip will be difficult and long, while he added that contacts to secure the hostage release are continuing even during the ground operation.
• US Secretary of State Blinken met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and agreed to work towards a Biden-Xi meeting in November. Furthermore, Wang Yi said both sides hope that Sino-US relations will stabilise as soon as possible, while he added that the road to San Francisco will not be smooth and is not on autopilot.
• Looking ahead, highlights include Australian Retail Sales & Supply from Japan.

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LOOKING AHEAD

• Highlights include Australian Retail Sales & Supply from Japan.
• Click here for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.
• UK clocks moved back an hour on Sunday to GMT.

US TRADE

• US stocks were pressured on Friday, while crude and gold prices rallied amid geopolitical tensions after initial reports regarding an agreement of a ceasefire were swiftly denied and Israel upscaled their bombardment of Gaza, while Israel also announced it was preparing for new incursions into the Gaza Strip.
• SPX -0.48% at 4,117, NDX +0.50% at 14,180, DJIA -1.12% at 32,417, RUT -1.21% at 1,636.
• Click here for a detailed summary.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• Former US Vice President Pence is suspending his presidential campaign, according to Politico.
• Stellantis (STLA) announced that a tentative labour deal was reached with the UAW, while it was separately reported that UAW’s tentative agreement with Ford (F) includes a USD 5,000 ratification bonus, a USD 1,500 voucher towards a vehicle purchase and all new temporary employees will be converted to in-progress employees after 9 months. Conversely, UAW broadened its strike against GM (GM) with a walkout at the Spring Hill, Tennessee plant.

COMMODITIES

• EU and UK are seeking a ban on subsidies for fossil fuel projects, according to FT.
• Russia’s Medvedev said Europe’s energy cooperation with Russia is ruined or frozen for a very long time and that hard times have come for the EU, while he added that the EU can no longer act on its own and that energy cooperation with the EU is pointless, according to Reuters.

GEOPOLITICS

• Israeli PM Netanyahu said the ongoing ground operation in Gaza is the second stage of the war and said the war inside the Gaza Strip will be difficult and long, while he added that contacts to secure the hostage release are continuing even during the ground operation.
• Israeli Defence Minister Gallant said the army is inflicting heavy blows on Hamas and they have no interest in expanding the war but are prepared on all fronts.
• Israel conducted a strike on a military base in the western Daraa countryside in Syria where Iranian militias are stationed and it was also reported on Friday that the US carried out air strikes against two weapons and ammunition storage facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Furthermore, IDF carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon in response to the rocket and missile fire on northern Israel.
• US Marine rapid response force is moving towards the eastern Mediterranean, according to officials cited by CNN amid concerns the war in Gaza is broadening into a regional conflict.
• US President Biden spoke with Egyptian President El-Sisi and briefed him on US efforts to ensure that regional actors do not expand the conflict in Gaza, while the leaders committed to the significant acceleration and increase of assistance flowing into Gaza. It was separately reported that President Biden said the US is ready to take further action following attacks by Iran-linked groups against US forces in Iraq and Syria, according to Reuters.
• White House’s National Security Adviser Sullivan said it is unacceptable to have extremist settler violence against innocent people in the West Bank and that the US believes Israeli PM Netanyahu has the responsibility to rein in extremist settlers in the West Bank.
• UK PM Sunak and French President Macron discussed in a call the importance of getting urgent humanitarian support into Gaza and expressed their shared concern at the risk of escalation in the wider region, in particular in the West Bank.
• French Foreign Ministry said France strongly condemns attacks by settlers that have led to the deaths of several Palestinian civilians over the past few days in the West Bank, while it called on Israeli authorities to take immediate measures to protect the Palestinian population.
• UAE asked the UN Security Council to meet as soon as possible following Israel’s expanded ground operation in Gaza and condemned the ground operation, according to Reuters.
• Jordan's army said the kingdom asked the US to deploy Patriot air defence systems to help bolster border defences, according to Reuters.
• Turkish President Erdogan told a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation and that Israel is the occupier, while he added that they will tell the whole world that Israel is a war criminal and are making preparations for this.
• Russia's aviation authority said Dagestan’s main airport will be closed until November 6th after it was stormed by a mob in protest against a plane carrying Israelis.
• North Korea said it is steadfast in its plans to expand bilateral relations with Russia and that the bilateral relationship with Russia does not target other countries.

ASIA-PAC

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• US Secretary of State Blinken met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and agreed to work towards a Biden-Xi meeting in November. Furthermore, Wang Yi said both sides hope that Sino-US relations will stabilise as soon as possible, while he added that the road to San Francisco will not be smooth and is not on autopilot.
• Japanese Trade Minister Nishimura said G7 completely agreed to build reliable supply chains for critical minerals and chips to reduce dependency on a particular country.
• Japanese Keidanren said it is urging companies to consider base pay increases, according to Nikkei.

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• ECB’s Vujcic said the ECB is finished with rate hikes for now and that a bigger part of hikes have already been transmitted to households and businesses, while he added that 2% inflation is attainable by 2025 and that they held rates as they have hiked adequately, according to an interview with Croatian state broadcaster HRT1.
• Fitch affirmed France at AA; Outlook Stable and affirmed Sweden at AAA; Outlook Stable, while it affirmed Bulgaria at BBB; Outlook Stable.