The Overnight News Roundup

Nov 25, 2024

PiQ and Zack Eiseman provide you a consolidated roundup of the overnight news that matters most to markets.

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MACRO:

Trump appointed Scott Bessent as US Treasury Secretary on Friday. Stocks and bonds gapped open higher amid Bessent's perception as the more market-friendly outcome, while the Dollar and precious metals saw downside.
Bessent has said his policy priority will be to deliver on Trump’s various tax-cut pledges. Enacting tariffs and cutting spending will also be a focus, as will be “maintaining the status of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.” (WSJ)
Joe Biden is staging a final push to deliver more aid to Ukraine, lock in manufacturing subsidies and confirm federal judges as he tries to secure his legacy before Donald Trump starts his second term in January. (FT)
Some Republican lawmakers are considering officially changing budget rules so that extending the tax cuts is not shown to cost anything. (NYT)
Fed survey in its biannual financial stability report finds inflation fading as a risk with fiscal debt and trade wars high risks. (RTRS)
The US bond market is finally showing signs of steadying after a two-month selloff, with investors starting to swoop in whenever yields test new peaks. (BBG)
The dollar is set to start 2025 on solid footing before facing risks such as faster inflation and a surging fiscal deficit over the coming year, according to the latest Bloomberg Markets Live Pulse survey. (BBG)
Speculators increased their net short bets on five-year Treasury futures to the largest on record in the latest week, while bearish bets on benchmark 10-year notes were the largest since October. (RTRS)
US retailers are extending their one-day seasonal Black Friday discount offers into a sales event lasting weeks in a bid to tempt US consumers to keep spending, as data suggests that their spree which has driven economic growth is beginning to falter. (FT)
Lael Brainard has warned Trump will trigger a “period of chaos” and sharp price rises if he scraps Joe Biden’s manufacturing tax credits and increases tariffs as planned. (FT)
Trump said on Friday he has chosen congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon to serve as his labor secretary. (RTRS)
Trump has tapped former Florida Rep. Dave Weldon, a physician and vaccine safety skeptic, to lead the CDC. (Politico)
China's blue-chip index dropped to a five-week low while Hong Kong shares sank to their lowest in two months on Monday, as U.S. crackdown, a looming trade war and elevated geopolitical tensions sapped an already fading investor confidence. (RTRS)
China’s central bank kept its 1yr MLF policy rate steady at 2% for the month, draining billions of Yuan from the system. (Newsquawk)
Various parts of China have launched a new round of consumer voucher issuance activities to promote consumption recovery with practical actions. (Xinhua)
The possibility that the PBoC will cut the RRR has increased as the end of the year approaches, Chinese press reports. (CSJ)
Trump’s pick of Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary may give Beijing room to negotiate with the US over their trade tensions, in part due to his moderate stance on tariffs. (BBG)
China’s cash-strapped shoppers drawn to second-hand luxury items. Price-conscious buyers hunt for deals while others seek goods that can hold value in times of uncertainty. (FT)
Economists expect Chinese exports to reach a historical high this year as customers rush to front-load orders given President-elect Donald Trump’s threat of higher tariffs when he takes office in January. (BBG)
Paper losses on domestic bonds held by Japan’s four major life insurers have more than doubled from the fiscal year ended March as interest rates climbed, though the firms recouped some of the losses since June. (BBG)
ECB's Lane said there is still some way to go before euro zone inflation is sustainably back at 2% but ECB policy should not remain restrictive for too long, otherwise price growth could fall below target. (Les Echos)
ECB's Kazaks said the bank should lower interest rates next month given what's happening at the moment in the European economy. (BBG)
ECB's Villeroy said the ECB can cut rates regardless of what happens at the Federal Reserve. (BBG)
Germany is reeling from some of the steepest growth downgrades of any advanced nation as economists warn of its acute vulnerability to the trade barriers being planned by the incoming Trump administration. (FT)
The French government is still aiming to bring down the 2025 budget deficit to as close as to 5% as possible, but is leaving open the possibility that the final level may be somewhat higher, budget minister Laurent Saint-Martin said on Monday. (RTRS)
UK PM Starmer said in an op-ed in the Mail on Sunday that the government will set out “radical reforms” in the coming week to tackle the rising outlays on benefits and will get to grips with the bulging benefits bill. (Newsquawk)
The UK could claw back pension tax breaks from asset managers that fail to invest enough domestically, the head of the British Business Bank said in a warning about the stakes for the industry as the government pursues a key growth initiative. (BBG)
UK workplaces rank among the worst in Europe for long hours, tight deadlines and limited autonomy, without being any more productive, according to a report prepared as the new Labour government plans tougher rules for employers. (RTRS)
Australia's banking regulator on Monday said it would retain a 3% serviceability buffer for home loan lending because of high household debt, persistent cost-of-living pressures, a pickup in credit growth and weakening job market. (RTRS)
New Zealand retail spending fell for a second straight quarter as high interest rates dented consumer sentiment, adding to signs the economy was in recession in the middle of the year. (BBG)
The New Zealand dollar is forecast to weaken around 6% in the coming months as a slowing economy prompts investors to price in aggressive interest rate cuts from the nation’s central bank. (BBG)
Cantor Fitzgerald's Howard Lutnick, the incoming Commerce Department chief, is moving to strengthen his alliance with Tether Holdings, where Cantor is discussing receiving support from Tether for its planned multibillion-dollar program to lend dollars to clients who put up Bitcoin as collateral. (BBG)
Asia’s central banks will proceed cautiously with further policy easing given strength in the greenback and the risk of Trump administration tariffs, according to Goldman Sachs. (BBG)
Singapore’s inflation rate falls in October, hitting lowest point since March 2021. (CNBC)

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GEOPOLITICAL:

Israel is moving towards a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon with the Hezbollah militant group, Axios reported. However, Kan news, citing an Israeli official, said there was no green light given on an agreement in Lebanon, with issues still yet to be resolved. (Axios/Kan)
Japan and the U.S. aim to compile a joint military plan for a possible Taiwan emergency that includes deploying missiles. (Kyodo)
Senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader said Iran is preparing to respond to Israel, according to Tasnim. (Newsquawk)
Trump is considering tapping Richard Grenell, his former intelligence chief, to be a special envoy for the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Grenell has previously advocated for creation of "autonomous zones" as a means of settling the conflict. (RTRS)
Senior White House officials met on Friday with telecommunications executives to discuss China's "significant cyber espionage campaign targeting the sector," the White House said. (RTRS)
Taiwan's defence ministry on Monday reported that a Chinese balloon had been detected over the sea to Taiwan's north, the first time since April it has reported such an incident in what Taipei views as part of a pattern of harassment by Beijing. (RTRS)
Russia’s armed forces have recruited hundreds of Yemeni men to fight in Ukraine, brought by a shadowy trafficking operation that highlights the growing links between Moscow and the Houthi rebel group. (FT)
Iran is planning to hold nuclear talks with Britain, France, Germany and the European Union on Nov. 29 in Geneva. (Kyodo)

EQUITIES:

CoreWeave is aiming for a valuation of more than $35 billion in its U.S. IPO that is expected to occur next year. (RTRS)
The U.S. government plans to reduce Intel Corp's preliminary $8.5 billion federal chips grant to less than $8 billion. (NYT)
Apple may shift orders of A20 Pro chips to Intel from TSMC, according to sources cited by Notebookcheck, who note the chips would be for the iPhone 18 series. (Notebookcheck)
China's vice commerce minister met with an executive vice president of Nvidia's worldwide field operations in Beijing on Monday. (RTRS)
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that global cooperation in technology will continue even if the incoming U.S. administration imposes stricter export controls on advanced computing products. (RTRS)
AMD plans to launch a new smartphone chip in 2026 made on TSMC’s 3nm process as it seeks to expand in the mobile devices market. (UDN)
Apple CEO Tim Cook is visiting China for at least the third time this year. (BBG)
Tesla has launched a limited-time promotion for the Model Y car in China, offering a 10,000 yuan discount on outstanding loans. (RTRS)
Lattice Semiconductor is considering making an offer for all of Intel's Altera unit. (BBG)
ByteDance-owned TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has sought input on U.S. matters from Elon Musk. (WSJ)
US pipeline operator Oneok Inc. will acquire the common units of EnLink Midstream LLC it doesn’t own for $4.3 billion, according to a statement. (BBG)
OpenAI is in talks with Samsung Electronics to bring its AI capabilities to Samsung’s electronic devices, which could mean a challenge to Google, which already provides AI services on Samsung smartphones. (Korea Herald)
TSMC is facing pressure to ramp up CoWoS advanced semiconductor packaging as large clients scramble for more amid Nvidia's Blackwell ramp up. CoWoS output is expected to see a big expansion in Q4 2025 after two new plants open and ramp up to mass production. (CTEE)
Funds managed by Goldman Sachs will write off nearly $900 million after Swedish lithium-ion battery producer Northvolt filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this week. (FT)
Alphabet mentioned bullishly in Barron's, saying it will survive AI competition and breakup calls, and could gain 50%. (Barron's)
Novonix will look at funding options for a new synthetic graphite plant in the Southeast U.S. after winning a supply deal with Volkswagen’s battery business, its third customer for the ingredient in batteries that power EVs and store renewable energy. (WSJ)
Saudi Aramco's digital arm is in talks to take a significant minority stake in Mavenir, in a deal that is likely to value the U.S. telecommunications software maker at about $3 billion. (RTRS)
Meta’s Threads is losing ground to social media start-up Bluesky in capitalising on the exodus of users from Elon Musk’s X following Donald Trump’s election. (FT)
A federal judge on Friday rejected the SEC's request to sanction Elon Musk after he failed to appear for court-ordered testimony for the regulator's probe into his $44 billion takeover of Twitter. (RTRS)
UniCredit launched an all-share offer to buy Banco BPM in a deal that values its Italian peer at around 10.1 billion euros. (WSJ)
Robert Bosch, the world's largest car parts supplier, will reduce the working hours and pay of around 10,000 employees in Germany, going beyond previously announced reductions and in addition to thousands of job cuts announced on Friday. (RTRS)
Atos said it received a non-binding offer from the French government to acquire its advanced computing activities for an enterprise value of 500 million euros ($521.3 million). (WSJ)
Meatpackers in Brazil are suspending sales to Carrefour in retaliation to the company’s decision to stop offering meat produced in Mercosur nations to customers in its home country of France. (Folha de S. Paulo)
Rolls-Royce is confident it can revive demand for its struggling Trent 1000 engine that powers Boeing Co.’s 787 airliner because some upgrades will improve durability and make the model more competitive. (BBG)
Huawei said it is targeting 100,000 applications for its Harmony operating system in coming months as it seeks widespread help to achieve self-reliance. (RTRS)
China’s Xiaomi will officially unveil its own smartphone chip made on 3nm process technology next year, the first China 3nm chip, marking a challenge to Qualcomm and MediaTek. (UDN)
The founding family of Japan's Seven & i Holdings has approached KKR and other investment firms about participating in the potential buyout of the retailer. (Nikkei)
Shares in Japanese train operators Keisei Electric Railway Co. and Keikyu Corp. jumped Monday following reports that a fund linked to activist investor Yoshiaki Murakami has built stakes in both companies. (BBG)
Wistron said Nvidia GB200 NLV72 server cabinets will begin shipping in Q4 and will ship in volume next year, boosting its own AI-related sales to triple-digit growth in 2025. (CNA)
Anglo American signed a deal to sell its remaining steelmaking coal assets to U.S. coal miner Peabody Energy for up to $3.775 billion. (WSJ)
Rio Tinto Group lifted restrictions on exports of alumina from its Gladstone refineries in Australia, according to S&P Global. (BBG)