Weekend News Roundup - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open

• US stocks saw gains on Friday amid trade optimism ahead of a key risk week. Sectors were predominantly firmer with outperformance seen in Materials, Industrials and Consumer Discretionary, while Energy, Communication, and Real Estate lagged. The outperformance in Materials was largely due to a solid earnings report from Newmont (NEM), while weakness in Communication was due to the large downside in Charter (CHTR) post-earnings.
• US President Trump announced a deal with the EU involving a 15% tariff and stated the EU will buy USD 750bln in US energy and is opening up all countries, while he added the EU will purchase US military equipment and will make USD 600bln in US investments.
• Looking ahead, highlights include US-China trade talks.

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LOOKING AHEAD

• Highlights include US-China trade talks.
• Click for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.

US TRADE

• US stocks saw gains on Friday amid trade optimism ahead of a key risk week. Sectors were predominantly firmer with outperformance seen in Materials, Industrials and Consumer Discretionary, while Energy, Communication, and Real Estate lagged. The outperformance in Materials was largely due to a solid earnings report from Newmont (NEM), while weakness in Communication was due to the large downside in Charter (CHTR) post-earnings.
• SPX +0.40% at 6,389, NDX +0.23% at 23,272, DJI +0.47% at 44,902, RUT +0.40% at 2,261.
• Click here for a detailed summary.

TARIFFS/TRADE

• US President Trump announced a deal with the EU involving a 15% tariff and stated the EU will buy USD 750bln in US energy and is opening up all countries, while he added the EU will purchase US military equipment and will make USD 600bln in US investments. Trump added that the deal is the biggest ever made and will be great for cars, as well as noted that agriculture is also to have a big impact. Furthermore, Trump said they are looking at deals with three to four other countries and countries will probably receive a letter of clarification or confirmation this week.
• European Commission President von der Leyen confirmed there will be 15% tariffs across the board and said the trade deal creates certainty and stability for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. Von der Leyen said the deal reaffirms the transatlantic partnership and the 15% tariff rate is for a vast majority of EU exports including cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, while she added that they agreed on zero-for-zero tariffs on certain agricultural products and on strategic products such as aircraft component parts and certain chemicals. Furthermore, she commented that tariffs will be cut and a quota system in place for steel, while there will be major purchases of US LNG and details on the trade deal framework will happen over the next few weeks.
• USTR Greer and Commerce Secretary Lutnick travelled to Scotland for the EU trade talks, while Lutnick stated the US will release the results of the Section 232 regarding chip imports in two weeks and separately commented that there are no more extensions to the August 1st deadline for tariffs.
• German Chancellor Merz said it is good that the EU and US reached a deal on tariffs and the deal avoids a conflict that would have hit the German economy, particularly in the autos sector, while Merz added that they protected their core interests even if he would have liked to see further facilitation of transatlantic trade.
• Dutch PM Schoof said the EU-US agreement is vital for an open economy like theirs, while he added that it is important to work out the details of the framework trade deal as quickly as possible.
• South Korea’s Finance Minister and Foreign Minister will meet with US counterparts this week, while South Korea is preparing a trade package and is drawing a mutually agreeable plan including a shipbuilding partnership.
• US and China are expected to extend the trade truce by 90 days, according to SCMP.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• NASA spokesperson said about 20% of the workforce is set to depart the agency as part of an overall effort to become streamlined and more efficient amid concerns about mission safety.
• IAM District 837 members in St. Louis voted to reject the Boeing (BA) defence contract, while the Co. said it was disappointed that employees voted down the richest contract offer it's ever presented to IAM 837 and stated that no talks are scheduled with the union.

GEOPOLITICAL

MIDDLE EAST

• Israel’s military announced a pause of military activity in designated areas in Gaza where it is not operating until further notice, with the pause in fighting to be daily in three areas of Gaza.
• Two Jordanian air force planes and one Emirati plane dropped a total of 25 tonnes of aid in Gaza in the first air drop in months, according to a Jordanian official source. Furthermore, the World Food Programme said it hopes Israeli humanitarian pauses will allow for a surge in urgently needed food for Gaza and it has enough food in or on its way to the region to feed the entire Gaza population for almost three months.
• US President Trump said he doesn’t know what is going to happen regarding Gaza and Israel is going to have to make a decision, while he added we will see what happens and the US is going to do more aid.
• Hamas’s exiled chief Khalil al-Hayya said ceasefire negotiations with Israel are meaningless under a continued blockade and starvation, while he added the immediate and dignified delivery of food and medicine to our people is the only serious and genuine indication of whether continuing the negotiations is worthwhile.
• Yemen’s Houthis said they will target ships that belong to companies which deal with Israeli ports, regardless of their nationality and ships will be attacked regardless of their destination if shipping companies don’t heed their call.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE

• Kremlin spokesperson said Russia prefers political and diplomatic means to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, although Kyiv and the West rejected that path.
• European Commission President von der Leyen said following a conversation with Ukrainian President Zelensky that the EU will continue to support Ukraine on its European path.

OTHER

• Malaysia’s Foreign Minister said that Cambodia’s PM and Thailand’s acting PM will visit Malaysia on Monday to discuss the conflict, while a Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed there will be a meeting on Monday.
• US President Trump spoke with the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand, while he stated that Cambodia and Thailand are both looking for an immediate ceasefire and peace, as well as stated that they are looking to get back to the trading table with the US.
• US Secretary of State Rubio spoke with the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand and urged both sides to deescalate tensions immediately and agree to a ceasefire, while he said the US is prepared to facilitate talks.
• Thailand’s acting PM agrees in principle to have a ceasefire but wants to see a sincere intention from Cambodia and wants bilateral dialogue as soon as possible.

ASIA-PAC

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• PBoC conducted CNY 400bln 1-year Medium Term Lending Facility with the rate at 2.00% and which resulted in a CNY 100bln net injection.
• Chinese Premier Li said at the World AI Conference that China will help establish an international AI collaboration group and that AI should be an international public good that benefits humanity, while he stated global AI development is accelerating and AI is moving from perceiving the world to changing the world.
• China’s Agriculture Ministry announced a plan to promote the consumption of agricultural products.
• Beijing issued a warning of geological disasters such as landslides for 10 of its 16 districts.
• US Commerce Secretary Lutnick said President Trump really likes TikTok, but it has to move to US ownership.

DATA RECAP

• Chinese Industrial Profits YY (Jun) -4.3% (Prev. -9.1%)
• Chinese Industrial Profits YTD YY (Jun) -1.8% (Prev. -1.1%)

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• ECB’s Cipollone said the economy is sending conflicting signals and needs to see how trade will affect prices.
• Germany is reportedly to avoid EU punishment for breaching budget rules, according to FT,
• Several were killed in a train crash in Germany near the town of Biberach, close to the border with France, according to local media.
• S&P affirmed Luxembourg at AAA; Outlook Stable, while Fitch lowered Finland’s sovereign rating from AA+ to AA; Outlook Revised to Negative from Stable.