The Overnight News Roundup
PiQ and Zack Eiseman provide you with a consolidated roundup of the overnight news that matters most to markets.
MACRO:
Congressional leaders reached a bipartisan deal Tuesday to keep the government funded through mid-March and provide more than $100 billion in relief to disaster victims and farmers, but the sprawling nature of the package angered some House Republicans. (WSJ)
US Congress is to vote in the coming days on restricting U.S. investments in China as part of the bill to fund the government through mid-March. Bill includes studying the risks of Chinese-made routers and modems. (RTRS)
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday proposed three bills aimed at cracking down China's role in the U.S. fentanyl crisis, with measures that would set up a U.S. task force to disrupt narcotics trafficking and pave the way for sanctions on Chinese entities. (RTRS)
Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump Jr. led a campaign to prevent Mike Pompeo from getting an administration job. (WSJ)
House Democrats rejected New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s effort to leapfrog into a prominent leadership role in the new Congress, siding with experience over progressive star power. (WSJ)
Bond traders have been boosting options and futures wagers that the Federal Reserve is about to signal deeper interest-rate cuts next year than the market anticipates. (BBG)
Japan’s exports continued to recover in November thanks to demand for chip-making machines and nonferrous metals, aided by a weaker yen. (WSJ/RTRS)
Japanese automaker shares climbed after news of a potential merger between Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. stoked speculation that more deals are on the horizon for the industry. (BBG)
PBoC urged financial institutions to guard against interest rate risks when trading in bonds, signalling discomfort among policymakers over recent frenzied buying that has helped drive yields sharply lower. (RTRS)
Progress by Chinese property developer Sunac towards a landmark restructuring deal for yuan bonds could open the gates to a flurry of debt agreements next year, as the sector gives up on returning to financial health anytime soon. (RTRS)
China’s banking regulator told the country’s biggest insurers to report their financial exposure to China Vanke Co., in a bid to assess how much support the developer needs to avoid default. (BBG)
China's jobless rate for 16-to-24-year-olds, excluding college students, fell to 16.1% in November from 17.1% in October, while the unemployment rate for 25-29 years old, excluding students, also dropped slightly to 6.7% from 6.8%. (RTRS)
China’s surging longer-maturity bonds are still a buy due to entrenched deflationary pressures and the prospect of further monetary easing, according to Abrdn Plc; targets a yield of 1% on 10yr debt in about three years. (BBG)
Hong Kong recorded a notable pickup in listing activities this year, as more Chinese companies turned to the city to raise capital and investors grew optimistic after Beijing pledged to support the offshore market. (CNBC)
Hong Kong’s dealmakers are betting on mainland-traded Chinese companies’ second listings to boost share-sale volumes next year, building on a pickup in recent months. (BBG)
UK inflation rose to its highest in eight months in November but an underlying measure of price growth watched closely by the Bank of England held steady, offering the central bank a little bit of relief.
Pay deals awarded by British employers were steady in the three months to November and are likely to slow next year as companies economise to meet higher tax bills introduced by the new government's first budget, a Brightmine survey showed. (RTRS)
The UK government risks baking in higher energy costs for consumers as it pushes to meet a challenging — and upgraded — target to decarbonize the country’s power supply by 2030. (BBG)
Brexit has hit UK trade less than many forecasters predicted thanks to larger companies adapting to red tape at the border, according to research by the London School of Economics. (FT)
ECB's Wunsch said larger Euro depreciation would cushion the growth impact from tariffs, but make it larger on inflation. Said that with Euro at parity, Europe would not lose much competitiveness. Sees rates landing somewhere around 2%. (RTRS)
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers has forecast a sizable deterioration in the government’s fiscal outlook as falling commodity prices, a weaker Chinese economy and rising spending commitments erode the budget’s bottom line. (WSJ)
Australian discretionary retailers could benefit from expected interest rate cuts in 2025, analysts say, as shoppers loosen their belts to splurge on items such as electronics and footwear. (RTRS)
New Zealand’s Treasury Department expects the Reserve Bank to cut the Official Cash Rate to below 3% in 2026, its economic forecasts show. (BBG)
Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong said Wednesday that the ongoing political turmoil in South Korea weighs on the economy, suggesting authorities may downgrade growth forecasts and take stabilizing actions in response. (BBG)
Brazil’s lower house approved the first part of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s plan to target 70 billion reais ($11.5 billion) in spending with changes that water down some efforts to address investors concerns over the country’s public accounts. (BBG)
The Brazilian Treasury will hold additional auctions to buy and sell government debt over the next three days to offer support to the market and ensure that it operates well. (RTRS)
The Philippine peso dropped toward the psychological milestone of 59 per dollar, close to setting a fresh record low, as expectations for imminent easing hurt its appeal relative to regional peers. (BBG)
OPEC+ is wary of a renewed rise in U.S. oil output when Trump returns to the White House, delegates from the group said, because more U.S. oil would further erode OPEC+ market share and hamper the producer group's efforts to support prices. (RTRS)
Crude markets in the Middle East are tightening as the United Arab Emirates curbs sales and flows from Iran are hampered by sanctions. (BBG)
Global demand for coal is set to hit fresh records every year through at least 2027, International Energy Agency data show, overturning a previous estimate that it peaked last year, highlighting the challenges to limiting emissions that cause global warming. (BBG)
Bitcoin took a breather after scaling $108,000 for the first time as traders await an expected Federal Reserve interest-rate cut and assess a wave of optimism from President-elect Donald Trump’s support for crypto. (BBG)
GEOPOLITICAL:
Iran's Revolutionary Guards have tightened their grip on the country's oil industry and control up to half the exports that generate most of Tehran's revenue and fund its proxies across the Middle East. China remains top buyer of Iranian oil, including from IRGC. (RTRS)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister visited the Syrian buffer zone that Israeli troops seized after the fall of the Assad regime and said they would continue to hold it indefinitely. (WSJ)
EQUITIES:
TrendForce report Nvidia GB200 server mass production and peak shipments face a delay to the 2nd quarter or 3rd quarter of 2025 as the supply chain works to meet the higher design specs. (TrendForce)
Microsoft bought twice as many of Nvidia’s flagship chips as any of its largest rivals in the US and China this year, according to Omdia analysts, who estimate that Microsoft bought 485k of Nvidia’s “Hopper” chips this year. (FT)
Mastercard announced a new share repurchase programme of up to $12 billion; also raised its quarterly dividend to 76c/shr from 66c/shr. (RTRS)
China's medical regulator has approved Eli Lilly's treatment for early Alzheimer's, providing patients with another option after Eisai and Biogen's Leqembi received approval in January. (RTRS)
Traders bought a slew of bullish contracts on video-game retailer GameStop Corp. over the past two days, less than a month after an X post from Keith Gill, the online persona known as Roaring Kitty, sent meme stocks flying. (BBG)
Renault shares are advancing given the automaker holds 36% of Nissan shares, which rose around 24% in overnight trade amid merger talks with Honda. (Newsquawk)
Credit Agricole appointed company veteran Olivier Gavalda as its next chief executive to replace Philippe Brassac, who will step down after a decade at the helm. (WSJ)
AstraZeneca insiders expect sales dip in China after arrest of local boss. (FT)
Shares of Kioxia soared 14% in their market debut on Wednesday, valuing the Bain-backed chipmaker at more than 890 billion yen ($5.80 billion) and highlighting strong investor demand for the third biggest IPO in Japan this year. (RTRS)
Honda and Nissan reportedly entered into merger talks to in order to rule out the risk of an acquisition by Foxconn as Foxconn was working behind the scenes to acquire a stake in Nissan, Nikkei sources say. (Newsquawk)
Japan’s support for Rapidus Corp. won’t waver even if the government-backed venture has to delay its goal of mass producing advanced logic chips by 2027, according to the chairman of the ruling party’s group for semiconductors. (BBG)
Bain Capital plans to make a bid to buy shares of Japanese software company Fuji Soft Inc. without support from the company’s board of directors, kicking off a rare hostile bid in Japan against KKR & Co. (BBG)
Some Asian hedge funds are betting on leading Chinese tech companies such as Xiaomi and Baidu, buoyed by their AI innovations, despite the threat of further U.S. curbs that could take effect next year. (RTRS)
Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world’s biggest dairy exporter, is concerned that the tariffs planned by President-elect Donald Trump could hurt demand for its products both in the US and globally. (BBG)
New Zealand lender Kiwibank could become the fourth-biggest player in the nation’s home-loan market within five years if it continues to outgrow its rivals, according to Chief Executive Officer Steve Jurkovich. (BBG)
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This Week’s Major Economic Data
That's all for today's digest. Happy trading, and keep it tight!
Team PiQ