Newsquawk Daily Asia-Pac Opening News - 27th October 2026

US stocks started the week on the front foot, with semiconductors leading a tentative recovery from the recent AI-driven sell-off. Neoclouds managed to recover and gain despite initial pressure after Elon Musk said debt markets have almost entirely shut off access to money for any company that doesn’t have substantial revenue independent of AI data centres. Despite the AI rally, AI funding remained in focus. Meta (META -1.9%) launched a USD 35bln equity offering with a further USD 60bln ATM sale planned to fund its infrastructure build-out, and Anthropic’s S-1 revealed over USD 280bln in compute commitments with SpaceX and Broadcom. The S-1 was viewed as positive, on a cash and balance sheet basis as of June 30th 2026; Total assets were USD 147.358bln vs total liabilities of USD 117.467bln. USD saw slight strength on Monday, although currency-specific newsflow was light as participants await the week's scheduled risk events, of which there are many; highlights include the FOMC, BoJ and ECB meetings, the UK Budget, US PCE and three Mag-7 earnings reports. As for Monday, there was no tier-1 data, so focus was on geopolitics and AI sentiment. ING writes that the balance of risks suggests the dollar can probably hold onto its gains, and that, barring some clearly underwhelming Q3 results from the likes of Alphabet and Microsoft, higher energy prices and a hawkish Fed can keep the dollar supported this week. Looking ahead, highlights include South Korean GDP, Japanese Services PPI & BoJ Core CPI, Chinese Industrial Profits, Supply from Australia & Japan. SNAPSHOT STOCKS S&P 500 +0.7% Nasdaq Comp. +0.8% DJIA +0.3% Russell 2000 +0.4% ES Dec'26 +0.7% RTY Dec'26 +0.4% NQ Dec'26 +1.2% YM Dec'26 +0.3% FX DXY +0.3% (102.00) EUR/USD -0.3% USD/JPY +0.4% GBP/USD -0.2% BONDS US T-Note Dec'26 -2 ticks 10yr Bund Dec'26 -19 ticks US 10yr Yield 4.99% German 10yr Yield 3.36% ENERGY & METALS WTI Dec'26 -2.0% Brent Jan'27 -1.2% Spot Gold +0.5% LME Copper +0.1% CRYPTO Bitcoin -0.3% Ethereum -1.0% As of 21:15GMT/17:15EDT LOOKING AHEAD Highlights include South Korean GDP, Japanese Services PPI & BoJ Core CPI, Chinese Industrial Profits, Supply from Australia & Japan. Click for the Newsquawk Week Ahead. IRAN CONFLICT US forces in the Middle East are reportedly prepared to launch major strikes against Iran within 96 hours of US President Trump's approval, according to CNN. US officials familiar with military planning said the question was when, rather than if, Trump would order renewed strikes, with action likely to come after the midterm elections. Officials added that Trump had not made up his mind but appeared to be leaning towards ordering major action. US intelligence officials believe Iran and the Houthis are unlikely to carry out pre-emptive escalatory attacks against US personnel or Israel, according to CNN, citing sources, but would not hesitate to act if targeted first. US informed Iraq that it would respond to factions if they joined Iran militarily, according to Al Arabiya, citing sources. Iranian President Pezeshkian said Iran was ready to resolve disputes and benefit from the combined capabilities of countries in the region, according to Al Mayadeen. He added that he would discuss securing energy transportation routes, freedom of trade and efforts to end regional insecurity during his visit to Moscow, according to Sabereen News. Iranian Foreign Minister said the Qatari delegation's visit to Iran was part of ongoing regional talks, adding that US sanctions would affect regional ties. Consultations with Pakistan were also continuing to resolve technical problems more quickly. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Baghaei said Tehran had not received any specific proposal from European countries, responding to claims that Europe had proposed negotiations. He said that, apart from a statement emphasising the importance of negotiations, no concrete proposal had been presented. Iranian Deputy Security Chief Bagheri Kani said Iran is open to a shorter US proposal timeline if conditions are met, according to state TV. Senior Iranian official said talks in Tehran with members of the Mecca Pact excluded the nuclear issue, adding that Iran would not discuss its nuclear programme until the US met Tehran's demands. Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia agreed to continue talks, according to IRIB. Iranian security official said regarding Israel that Iran is completely ready and waiting for the first spark, and in the event of the slightest aggression, it will implement a response at the same level as these threats with unprecedented speed and intensity. An explosion was heard in the Strait of Hormuz near the Iranian coast, according to Sabereen News. An explosion reportedly occurred aboard a vessel off the coast of Iraq amid reports of an attack, according to Fars. Separately, UKMTO received multiple third-party reports of a vessel on fire 63NM southeast of Al-Faw, Iraq. Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed three drones over Riyadh and southern regions. Plumes of smoke rose from Jeddah after Yemeni armed forces targeted vital facilities, according to Sabereen News. Houthi missiles launched from Al-Hasha in Al-Dhale' towards Aden and Bab al-Mandab were observed. US TRADE US stocks started the week on the front foot, with semiconductors leading a tentative recovery from the recent AI-driven sell-off. Neoclouds managed to recover and gain despite initial pressure after Elon Musk said debt markets have almost entirely shut off access to money for any company that doesn’t have substantial revenue independent of AI data centres. Despite the AI rally, AI funding remained in focus. Meta (META -1.9%) launched a USD 35bln equity offering with a further USD 60bln ATM sale planned to fund its infrastructure build-out, and Anthropic’s S-1 revealed over USD 280bln in compute commitments with SpaceX and Broadcom. The S-1 was viewed as positive, on a cash and balance sheet basis as of June 30th 2026; Total assets were USD 147.358bln vs total liabilities of USD 117.467bln. SPX +0.71% at 7,678, NDX +1.09% at 20,273, DJI +0.29% at 52,364, RUT +0.40% at 2,787. Click here for a detailed summary. TARIFFS/TRADE US and Canada are working on a deal to ease US tariffs on Canadian steel and auto imports, according to reports. However, it was separately reported that a US-Canada trade deal is likely not as imminent as US officials indicated over the weekend, according to Semafor citing sources. EU reportedly plans to impose import restrictions on Chinese chemicals and furniture, while the bloc could present the new trade curbs as early as Q1 2027, according to Bloomberg TV. NOTABLE HEADLINES US Treasury announced a preliminary liquidity-support buyback of up to USD 6bln in nominal coupon securities with maturities of 20–30 years, scheduled for October 27th, with settlement on October 28th. Anthropic filed for an IPO and applied to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol 'ANT'. It was separately reported that Anthropic is targeting an IPO during the week of November 16th, while the offering could raise USD 100bln or more and value the company at between USD 1.5tln and USD 2tln, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing sources. FHFA Director Pulte said further action would be taken this week in the credit-scoring industry to ensure competition was genuine and not artificial or manipulated. DATA RECAP US Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index (Oct): 13.4 (prev. 9.8) FX USD saw slight strength on Monday, although currency-specific newsflow was light as participants await the week's scheduled risk events, of which there are many; highlights include the FOMC, BoJ and ECB meetings, the UK Budget, US PCE and three Mag-7 earnings reports. As for Monday, there was no tier-1 data, so focus was on geopolitics and AI sentiment. ING writes that the balance of risks suggests the dollar can probably hold onto its gains, and that, barring some clearly underwhelming Q3 results from the likes of Alphabet and Microsoft, higher energy prices and a hawkish Fed can keep the dollar supported this week. EUR initially fared well after France was spared a downgrade by Moody's on Friday, while on the data front, the German Ifo survey was mixed, and the single currency gradually faded its early gains. GBP trickled lower although the downside was limited ahead of the looming Budget announcement, with Chancellor Healey to announce plans to increase the minimum wage by nearly 4%, while slowing the rise for younger workers, following warnings that young people were being priced out of jobs. JPY weakened with USD/JPY returning to above the 157.00 level amid the firmer buck and as participants await the Fed and BoJ policy meetings. FIXED INCOME T-notes settled slightly lower and the curve flattened as markets await FOMC, tech earnings, and PCE. COMMODITIES Oil prices declined albeit in choppy trade, with fresh catalysts light and plenty of macro risk events due later in the week, while the attention remained on geopolitics. GEOPOLITICAL RUSSIA-UKRAINE Russian Kremlin said any agreement to resume talks with Ukraine and the US would not prevent either Russia or Ukraine from conducting military operations in the meantime. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said Moscow was considering proposals to ensure the security of grain shipments through the Black Sea and remained in contact with Turkey, according to Interfax. EU foreign policy chief Kallas said further sanctions on Russia were in the works. ASIA-PAC NOTABLE HEADLINES PBoC is to establish a bond-market swap facility for non-bank financial institutions to maintain stability in the bond market. Japan's Sakana AI plans to develop a homegrown model to reduce reliance on the US and China, according to Nikkei. EU/UK NOTABLE HEADLINES UK PM Burnham said he was not proposing re-joining the EU in this parliament, but added that he would like Britain to rejoin at some point during his lifetime, according to Sky's McDaid. UK Chancellor Healey will announce plans to increase the minimum wage by nearly 4% while slowing the rise for younger workers, following warnings that young people were being priced out of jobs, according to The Times. DATA RECAP German Ifo Business Climate (Oct): 90.2 (exp. 90, prev. 89.9) German Ifo Expectations (Oct): 91.6 (exp. 90, prev. 90.4) German Ifo Current Conditions (Oct): 88.8 (exp. 89.9, prev. 89.5)