The Overnight News Roundup - June 20

Your Daily Edge: Overnight Headlines for Traders, Analysts, and Market Observers

Jun 20, 2025

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

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IRAN:

Trump admin officials are pitching the president’s two-week timeline on whether to launch an attack as a chance to let diplomacy play out. (ABC)
Trump reposted a quote on Truth Social that said “[Trump] is the guy who killed Qasem Soleimani. You think he's afraid to take out Forgo? Of course not.” (Truth)
Brent crude could jump to around $90 a barrel if the Strait of Hormuz is closed, according to Citigroup Inc., which added that a prolonged halt to shipping through the crucial waterway would be unlikely. (BBG)

TRADE:

Canada unveiled policies to support the domestic steel sector, including a curb on imports. PM Carney said the government would also consider higher tariffs on US steel and aluminum depending on the progress made on a new economic-and-security deal. (WSJ)
Japan's top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said that trade negotiations with the U.S. "remained in a fog" despite efforts by both sides to seek an agreement. He also said Japan won’t fixate on the looming date for so-called reciprocal tariffs to go back to higher levels, signaling that the Asian nation stands ready for the possibility that talks will drag on. (RTRS/BBG)
China's overseas shipments of rare earth magnets halved in May from April, tumbling to their lowest levels in more than five years due to export curbs. (RTRS)
US tariff hikes on small packages from China caused a 40% drop in shipments in May, with the value of small parcels sent from China to the US falling to just over $1 billion. (BBG)
Temu's weekly sales in the US dropped more than 25% compared to a year ago, as the online marketplace drastically cuts spending on advertising targeting American consumers. (BBG)
The EU will restrict the ability for Chinese medical device manufacturers to access public procurement contracts worth more than €5 million. (BBG)

MACRO:

A federal appeals court on Thursday night allowed President Trump to maintain command of the California National Guard in response to the LA protests, blocking a lower court that ordered him to return those forces to the state’s control. (WSJ)
JPMorgan is sticking to its bearish view on the US dollar, arguing that a combination of moderating US growth, robust global policy support, and waning investor appetite for US assets continues to point toward further dollar weakness. (Forex Live)
Financial markets have seen the worst of Donald Trump’s tariff threats, helping make midcap stocks an attractive buy as the outlook improves, according to a Fidelity International money manager. (BBG)
A number of Australia’s biggest investors say they are cutting their holdings of US Treasuries, citing concern over President Donald Trump’s tariff and tax plans. (BBG)
Japan’s consumer inflation gathered pace in May. Core consumer prices excluding fresh food climbed 3.7% in May from a year earlier, up from April’s 3.5% increase and above economists’ consensus forecast of 3.6%. That marked the fastest rise since January 2023. (WSJ)
Hiking interest rates only gradually as raw material costs rise could heighten the risk of an upward spiral in wages and consumer prices, the Bank of Japan said in a research paper released this week. (RTRS)
Japanese Finance Minister Kato said that the government will work to ensure the stable issuance of Japanese government bonds with the Bank of Japan's bond tapering plans in mind. (RTRS)
Japan’s Finance Ministry will seek feedback from market players later Friday over its planned reductions to super-long bond issuance as it takes steps to quell market turbulence. (BBG)
BoJ policymakers agreed on the need to keep raising still-low interest rates, but some saw the need to pause for the time being due to uncertainty over U.S. trade policy, minutes of their April 30-May 1 policy meeting showed. (RTRS)
Japan is encouraging energy importers to secure liquefied natural gas past 2050 — the deadline the second-biggest buyer of the fossil fuel has set itself for net zero emissions. (BBG)
China kept benchmark lending rates unchanged as expected on Friday, after Beijing rolled out sweeping monetary easing measures a month earlier to support the economy. (RTRS)
China's top state planner and the finance ministry will issue consumer goods trade-in funds in July and October separately. (Xinhua)
Hong Kong’s residential property market is poised for a recovery after enduring a seven-year downturn, according to Morgan Stanley. (BBG)
UK retail sales plummeted in May, in a sharp reversal of consumer behavior that suggests the economy could be struggling in the second quarter. (BBG)
UK government borrowing came in below forecast in the first two months of the fiscal year. (BBG)
The mood among British consumers improved a little in June, though global turmoil could see confidence darken again ahead, according to the latest GfK survey. (WSJ)
MSCI signaled that South Korea’s bid to secure an upgrade to developed-market status continues to face several impediments, even as it lauded efforts by the nation’s authorities to improve market access and implement currency reforms. (BBG)
South Korea’s current account surplus with the US surged to a record high last year, highlighting the challenge President Lee Jae Myung faces as he seeks to secure a trade deal with Donald Trump. (BBG)

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GEOPOLITICAL:

China sent the most warplanes toward Taiwan since October, a move that follows US lawmakers visiting a top military figure and both the UK and Japan sailing warships through the strait separating the island from the Chinese mainland. (BBG)

EQUITIES:

SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son is seeking to team up with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to realize what could be his biggest bet yet — a trillion-dollar industrial complex in Arizona to build robots and AI. (BBG)
Home Depot has made an offer for building-products distributor GMS, kicking off a potential bidding war between the home-improvement giant and serial dealmaker Brad Jacobs, according to WSJ sources. (WSJ)
Nvidia has already reserved output at a new AI server factory Wistron opened in Zhubei, Taiwan on Thursday, and strong order growth is expected to continue for another year, Wistron President said. (UDN)
Meta’s MTIA v2 AI chip has nearly finished tapeout at TSMC and could be in mass production by the end of this year. (China Times)
Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said they got FDA approval for anti-inflammatory drug Dupixent as a treatment for a rare skin disease, adding an eighth indication in the U.S. for their blockbuster medicine. (WSJ)
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. is receiving some encouraging signs for its shuttered mine in Panama, though the nation’s president warned there’s a long way to go before reaching a deal to restart. (BBG)\
Baidu’s Apollo Go could enter the Southeast Asian market as early as this year as autonomous-driving companies race to grow overseas, according to WSJ sources. (WSJ)
Shares in Pop Mart International, the maker of the wildly popular Labubu dolls, took a hit after Chinese state media signaled stricter regulation over “blind-box” toys. (WSJ)
Honda Motor is considering a business collaboration with Nissan Motor, four months after the collapse of their merger plans, as U.S. tariffs cloud the prospects of both Japanese automakers. (Nikkei)