Weekend News Roundup - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

US stocks gained on Friday in which the S&P 500 and Nasdaq printed record intraday and closing highs with outperformance in the Consumer Discretionary sector which was led by Nike (NKE) after earnings and revenue guidance topped expectations, and it signalled a plan to reduce exposure to China amid the trade tensions. Nonetheless, there was a bout of pressure seen in the latter part of the session amid trade frictions after President Trump terminated trade discussions with Canada over their Digital Services Tax on US tech.
US President Trump’s sweeping tax cut and spending bill cleared the first US Senate hurdle on Saturday with a 51-49 vote, which raises the odds of passage in the coming days, while US President Trump commented that there was a great victory in the Senate with the “great big, beautiful bill”.
Looking ahead, highlights include South Korean & Japanese Industrial Production & Retail Sales, Australian MI Inflation Gauge & Private Sector Credit, New Zealand ANZ Business Survey, Chinese Official Manufacturing & Non-Manufacturing PMIs.

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LOOKING AHEAD

Highlights include South Korean & Japanese Industrial Production & Retail Sales, Australian MI Inflation Gauge & Private Sector Credit, New Zealand ANZ Business Survey, Chinese Official Manufacturing & Non-Manufacturing PMIs.
Click for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.

US TRADE

US stocks gained on Friday in which the S&P 500 and Nasdaq printed record intraday and closing highs with outperformance in the Consumer Discretionary sector which was led by Nike (NKE) after earnings and revenue guidance topped expectations, and it signalled a plan to reduce exposure to China amid the trade tensions. Nonetheless, there was a bout of pressure seen in the latter part of the session amid trade frictions after President Trump terminated trade discussions with Canada over their Digital Services Tax on US tech.
SPX +0.52% at 6,173, NDX +0.39% at 22,534, DJI +1.00% at 43,819, RUT +0.02% at 2,173.
Click here for a detailed summary.

TARIFFS/TRADE

US President Trump said on Friday that Europe has been very tough on trade and said they have a good relationship but it is a tough situation, while he added that the US has the cards regarding trade with Europe and the problem is that Europe has a lot of taxes and that they sue US companies. Trump also commented that Canada is difficult to deal with and that the US has all the cards and has such power over Canada. Furthermore, he announced that the US is stopping trade talks with Canada due to the latter putting a digital services tax on US tech companies.
US President Trump said on Friday that they are in the process of making trade deals and at a certain point over the next week, they will send out letters to countries to tell them what they have to pay. Trump also said he wants full trade barriers dropped with India and thinks they'll reach a deal with India.
Canada acted to support its steel producers and workers in which it set new tariff rate quotas for steel mill product imports from non-FTA partners.
China Customs said it resumed imports of qualified aquatic products from some Japanese regions.
Bank for International Settlements said the global economy and financial system have entered a new era of heightened uncertainty, while it added that rising protectionism and trade fragmentation are particularly concerning.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

US President Trump’s sweeping tax cut and spending bill cleared the first US Senate hurdle on Saturday with a 51-49 vote, which raises the odds of passage in the coming days, while US President Trump commented that there was a great victory in the Senate with the “great big, beautiful bill”.
Non-partisan US Congressional Budget Office said the Senate version of the Trump tax bill will add USD 3.3tln to US debt over the next decade.
Elon Musk posted on X that the latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immediate strategic harm to the country, while he added it is utterly insane and destructive, as well as gives out handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.
Fed Stress Test results on Friday showed large banks are well-positioned to weather a severe recession in 2025, and that all 22 banks passed.

FX

South Africa’s DA Party leader said the Democratic Alliance will withdraw from national dialogue with immediate effect and is in the process of losing confidence in the President’s ability to lead the government.

COMMODITIES

Israel’s Oil Refineries said it resumed partial operation of refining activity in Haifa after damage caused by an Iranian missile during the Israel-Iran war, with full operation expected by October.
Smoke arose from Iran’s Tabriz refinery, which was caused by a nitrogen tank explosion, although there were no casualties from the incident, according to state media.

GEOPOLITICAL

MIDDLE EAST

Israel’s army said it identified the launch of a missile from Yemen on Saturday.
Egyptian Foreign Minister said work is underway on an upcoming agreement in Gaza that includes a 60-day truce, according to Alhadath via X.
US President Trump said Israeli PM Netanyahu is in the process of negotiating a deal with Hamas to get hostages back.
US President Trump said he knew exactly where Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei was sheltered and would not let Israel or US armed forces terminate his life, while Trump said he demanded that Israel bring back a very large group of planes that were headed directly to Tehran in the final act of the war. Furthermore, Trump said he was working on the possible removal of sanctions in the last few days and other things which would have given Iran a much better chance at a recovery but warned that Iran has to get back into the world order flow or things will only get worse for them.
US justified its strikes on Iran as collective self-defence under the UN Charter in a letter to the UN Security Council and said the objective was to destroy Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and stop the threat that Tehran obtains and uses a nuclear weapon, while it added that the US remains committed to pursuing a deal with the Iranian government.
IAEA chief Grossi said Iran has the capacity to start enriching uranium again for a possible bomb in a matter of months, according to BBC.
Iran’s Foreign Minister said if US President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran’s Supreme Leader.
Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mousavi told Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister that they highly doubt Israel’s commitment to the ceasefire, according to Tasnim.
Iran permitted the transiting of international flights over the centre and west of the country. In relevant news, Emirates cancelled all flights to and from Tehran until July 5th due to the regional situation, while it is to recommence operations to Baghdad on July 1st and Basra on July 2nd.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE

Russia said its troops captured Novoukrainka in eastern Ukraine, according to RIA.
US President Trump said on Friday that he may send patriot missiles to Ukraine and commented that he will get the conflict solved with North Korea’s leader Kim.

OTHER

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said they have seen and rejected the official statement by the Pakistan Army seeking to blame India for the attack in Waziristan on June 28th.

ASIA-PAC