- US stocks retreated on Friday with the majority of losses occurring in the US afternoon on likely profit taking into the weekend after Trump's first week in office which saw the SPX hit a fresh record high earlier in the week. Underperformance was observed in the Nasdaq with weakness in semis after a soft Texas Instruments (TXN) guide, with the sector continuing to be hit after disappointing SK Hynix guidance on Thursday.
- US President Trump announced the US will impose emergency 25% tariffs on all Colombian goods coming into the US which will be raised to 50% in one week after Colombia denied entry to two US deportation flights. Trump also announced a travel ban and visa revocations on Colombian government officials and said he will fully impose emergency treasury, banking and financial sanctions on Colombia, while he added that the measures on Colombia are just the beginning.
- Looking ahead, highlights include Chinese Official PMIs, Singapore Unemployment, Japanese Leading Index, Supply from Japan, Holiday Closures in Australia & Taiwan.
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LOOKING AHEAD
- Highlights include Chinese Official PMIs, Singapore Unemployment, Japanese Leading Index, Supply from Japan, Holiday Closures in Australia & Taiwan.
- Click for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.
US TRADE
- US stocks retreated on Friday with the majority of losses occurring in the US afternoon on likely profit taking into the weekend after Trump's first week in office which saw the SPX hit a fresh record high earlier in the week. Underperformance was observed in the Nasdaq with weakness in semis after a soft Texas Instruments (TXN) guide, with the sector continuing to be hit after disappointing SK Hynix guidance on Thursday.
- SPX -0.29% at 6,101, NDX -0.58% at 21,774, DJI -0.32% at 44,424, RUT -0.30% at 2,308.
- Click here for a detailed summary.
NOTABLE HEADLINES
- US President Trump announced the US will impose emergency 25% tariffs on all Colombian goods coming into the US which will be raised to 50% in one week after Colombia denied entry to two US deportation flights. Trump also announced a travel ban and visa revocations on Colombian government officials and said he will fully impose emergency treasury, banking and financial sanctions on Colombia, while he added that the measures on Colombia are just the beginning.
- Fox News reported that Colombian President Petro backtracked and offered his presidential plane to repatriate migrants coming back from the US, although Reuters reported that Petro threatened 50% tariffs on goods from the US in retaliation to measures announced by US President Trump. Furthermore, a White House source said Trump is using Colombia as an example to tell the world what would happen if they refuse to accept deportation flights.
- Mexico reportedly refused a US deportation flight, according to officials cited by Reuters.
- US President Trump said he is aiming to get Saudi investment of USD 1tln, up from USD 500bln-600bln.
- Pete Hegseth was confirmed by the US Senate as Secretary of Defense through a 51-50 vote in which US VP Vance cast the tie-breaking vote.
- Elon Musk reportedly explores blockchain use in the US government efficiency effort.
FX
- Mexican Central Bank said it will consider larger cuts to the benchmark interest rate early this year due to slowing inflation and warned balance of risks for inflation remains tilted to the upside mostly due to the persistence of core inflation.
COMMODITIES
- US President Trump said he spoke with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and discussed bringing oil prices down.
- Norway’s Gassco announced an unplanned outage of 10.7 MCM/day at the Troll field for January 26th-27th.
GEOPOLITICAL
MIDDLE EAST
- Israeli PM Netanyahu confirmed three hostages are to be released by Hamas and that Israel will allow Palestinians to cross into northern Gaza from Monday morning. It was also reported that Hamas said it handed over to mediators the required information regarding the list of hostages to be released during the first phase of the Gaza agreement.
- Hamas said that Israel procrastinates in implementing ceasefire terms by preventing displaced Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, while it holds Israel responsible for any delays in the implementation of the agreement and the repercussions in subsequent stages. It was separately reported that Hamas released a list of 200 Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel, according to Reuters.
- Israeli fire killed a Lebanese soldier and injured another in southern Lebanon, while it was also reported that Israeli fire killed two people and injured 31 in southern Lebanon. It was later announced that the death toll from Israeli fire in southern Lebanon rose to eleven.
- White House said the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon will continue to be in effect until February 18th, while Lebanon, Israel and the US will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after 7th October 2023.
- UN envoy in Lebanon and UNIFIL said conditions are not yet in place for the return of Lebanese citizens to the south, according to a statement cited by Reuters.
- US lifted the pause on delivery of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, according to a source cited by Reuters.
- US President Trump spoke with Jordan’s King Abdullah of Jordan about moving people out of ‘demolition site’ Gaza to neighbouring countries and said he will speak with Egypt’s President El Sisi, while it was separately reported that Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said Egypt rejects any attempt to move Palestinians out of their land.
- US President Trump’s Middle East envoy Witkoff will travel to Israel on Wednesday to oversee the Gaza ceasefire.
- US Secretary of State Rubio said he is hearing the Taliban is holding more American hostages than has been reported, while he added that the US may place a very big bounty on Taliban’s top leaders. It was separately reported that Rubio spoke with Yemeni PM Ahmed Bin Mubarak and discussed cooperation to stop Houthi attacks.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE
- Russia said its troops captured Zelene in eastern Ukraine, according to IFAX.
- Moldovan President Sandu arrived in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Zelensky.
- Belarusian exit polls showed incumbent Lukashenko won the presidential election with 87.6% of votes.
OTHER
- Baltic Sea submarine fibre optic cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged on Sunday morning which was caused by external influence, according to Latvian public broadcaster LSM citing the cable operator.
- North Korea tested a strategic cruise missile on Saturday, according to KCNA.
- China’s Coast Guard said two Philippine vessels entered waters near the reef in the Spratly islands on Saturday, while China’s Coast Guards intercepted the vessels and drove them away.
ASIA-PAC
NOTABLE HEADLINES
- PBoC injected CNY 151bln in 14-day reverse repos on Sunday.
- US President Trump said he is in talks with multiple people regarding buying TikTok and will likely have a decision on the app’s future in the next 30 days, while it was separately reported that the White House is working on a plan to have Oracle (ORCL) and an investor group takeover US TikTok.
- China’s Foreign Minister Wang is to visit the UK in February for talks with UK Foreign Secretary Lammy, according to The Guardian.
- China state-owned firms’ profits rose 0.4% Y/Y, according to the Finance Ministry.
EU/UK
NOTABLE HEADLINES
- UK PM Starmer spoke with US President Trump on Sunday and agreed to meet soon, according to the UK government.
- UK Chancellor Reeves will call on sceptical Labour MPs on Monday to back her plans to boost the UK economy including the proposal to expand London’s Heathrow Airport, according to FT.
- Fitch affirmed Netherlands at AAA; Outlook Stable.
