Newsquawk Daily European Opening News - 3rd September 2026

US President Trump said the renewed campaign against Iran would not continue for too long and that oil prices would come down; Trump added the US was prepared to conduct another attack on Iran. US President Trump said he has very productive things to talk about with China President Xi, adding it "Will be very exciting and great". Crude futures lacked firm direction after marginally gaining in two-way trade yesterday amid somewhat mixed comments from US President Trump. USD/JPY extended on the prior day's decline with the pair breaching the 158.00 level to the downside after the Japanese currency was supported on Wednesday. APAC stocks eventually traded mixed after initially posting gains; European equity futures indicate a marginally negative open. Looking ahead highlights include Swiss CPI (Aug), GDP (Aug), Global S&P Services and Composite PMI Final (Aug), EU PPI (Jul), US Challenger Layoffs (Aug), Trade Balance (Jul), Jobless Claims, ISM Services PMI (Aug), Atlanta Fed GDP (Q3), Canadian Trade Balance (Jul). Speakers include Fed’s Waller, Hammack & Goolsbee, RBA’s Jones & Hunter. Supply from Spain & France. SNAPSHOT STOCKS Nikkei 225 -0.5% ASX 200 +0.3% Hang Seng -0.6% Shanghai Comp -0.2% Euro Stoxx 50 Sep'26 -0.2% DAX Sep'26 -0.1% ES Sep'26 -0.2% NQ Sep'26 -0.3% FX DXY -0.2% (99.40) EUR/USD +0.1% (1.1595) USD/JPY -0.6% (157.72) GBP/USD +0.1% (1.3492) BONDS US T-Note Dec'26 +5.5 ticks Bund Sep'26 +19 ticks US 10yr Yield 4.77% German 10yr Yield 3.37% ENERGY & METALS WTI Oct'26 -0.7% Brent Nov'26 -0.9% Spot Gold +0.8% LME Copper +0.2% CRYPTO Bitcoin -0.1% Ethereum -0.2% As of 06:30BST/01:30EDT LOOKING AHEAD Highlights include Swiss CPI (Aug), GDP (Aug), Global S&P Services and Composite PMI Final (Aug), EU PPI (Jul), US Challenger Layoffs (Aug), Trade Balance (Jul), Jobless Claims, ISM Services PMI (Aug), Atlanta Fed GDP (Q3), Canadian Trade Balance (Jul). Speakers include Fed’s Waller, Hammack & Goolsbee, RBA’s Jones & Hunter. Supply from Spain & France. Click for the Newsquawk Week Ahead. IRAN CONFLICT US President Trump said the renewed campaign against Iran would not continue for too long and that oil prices would come down, while he said Iran was trying to build a rocket that drops mines and that the US took it out. Trump added that the US was prepared to conduct another attack on Iran but said he did not think the Iran war would last much longer. US President Trump said regarding Iran that the US is winning that one very big and controls the Hormuz Strait. US President Trump said Israel should not worry about a renewed war with Iran. Israeli PM Netanyahu said "We will defeat the regime in Iran - it will fall. All of our systems are working to overthrow the regime." He added that if Iran chooses to attack Israel, "they know it will be one of their last decisions". US Secretary of War Hegseth will extend troop deployments in the Middle East through 2027, according to WSJ. US Ambassador to NATO Whitaker says Iran is a bankrupt country and will not be able to pay anyone in its military, civil service or government, nor subsidise its society. He stated the people of Iran will not be happy with the current state of affairs and should blame their government and regime, adding that they should ask for change and a different way forward. US Secretary of State Rubio instructed all US embassies around the world earlier this week to send an official diplomatic demarche about Operation Economic Outcast to the most senior level of their host governments, according to Axios citing US officials. US Envoy Witkoff met last weekend with the UAE's national security adviser to discuss next steps on Iran, according to Axios. The report added that "One of the officials said a special message was sent to U.S. diplomatic posts in Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Hong Kong, Doha, London, Berlin and several Central Asian capitals. The missive instructed them to demand that their host governments shut down all branches of Iran's Melli and Saderat banks that are affiliated with the IRGC." Kuwait Army said it was repelling missile and hostile drone attacks, while local news outlets were attributing the attacks to Iranian aggression and Arab sources said the US base in Kuwait was hit by a strike with smoke reported. Iran’s Strait of Hormuz management body added to a list of ships that face action if they try to pass through the chokepoint, taking the total to more than 50. Military sources said clashes broke out between Yemeni government forces and Houthis in the Al-Kadha area west of Taizz, Yemen. US TRADE EQUITIES US stocks gained on Wednesday, with the Russell 2000 outperforming while the Nasdaq lagged but finished in the green. The vast majority of sectors were higher, although Consumer Discretionary was flat and Real Estate closed lower amid ongoing concerns around elevated yields, albeit the Treasury curve itself was little changed on the session. The Treasury curve saw a marginal steepening, with front-end yields edging lower while the belly and long end were broadly flat as attention turns towards Friday's NFP report. Administration officials continued to be quizzed on elevated bond yields, with Commerce Secretary Lutnick saying rates will come back down and the market will stabilise, adding that he is not concerned. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Bessent said the goal of the buyback operations is to avoid a bad market outcome, noting that buybacks free up balance-sheet capacity and make room for banks to participate more at Treasury auctions. SPX +0.48% at 7,668, NDX +0.23% at 29,143, DJI +0.56% at 53,062, RUT +1.23% at 2,956. Click here for a detailed summary. TARIFFS/TRADE US President Trump said he has very productive things to talk about with China President Xi, adding it "Will be very exciting and great". Trump said Canada had been ripping the US off for decades and that Canada takes advantage of airlines, while he added that Canada is tougher to deal with than China or Vietnam and that Canada had felt emboldened. Furthermore, Trump said the US had a good relationship with Brazil. US President Trump plans a state dinner for Chinese President Xi, according to sources cited by MS Now. US Treasury Secretary Bessent said China engages in financial repression on its savers, while he added that Chinese products were heavily subsidised, and he was working to get the US budget deficit to GDP down. US Commerce Secretary Lutnick said a further easing of US export curbs is not on the table and that relaxing tech export controls for China is not necessary. US House Republicans pressed USTR Greer on Wednesday on Capitol Hill about the harm a trade war with Canada could do to their local economies, according to Politico citing sources. NOTABLE HEADLINES Fed's Beige Book stated that economic activity increased modestly since early July, while employment rose slightly overall and prices increased moderately in eight Districts. White House confirmed that US President Trump signed a stopgap funding bill into law. US judge blocked the Trump administration from enforcing the executive order restricting birthright citizenship. APAC TRADE EQUITIES APAC stocks eventually traded mixed after initially posting gains. The stocks lost steam heading into the European open despite a lack of newsflow at the time. ASX 200 index was led by outperformance in the top-weighted financial sector and miners, but with further gains capped amid quiet newsflow and mixed trade data. Nikkei 225 initially traded with cautious gains before faltering amid recent currency moves and hawkish BoJ rate hike bets following the recent commentary from BoJ Governor Ueda and hawkish dissenter Takata. KOSPI outperformed early in the session with some tech and energy names among the notable gainer. The index fell into red later in the session. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed with some encouragement from stronger-than-expected Chinese RatingDog Services PMI data, although the PBoC's open market operations amount remained at zero. Both indices then traded in the red. US equity futures traded on either side of the unchanged mark following the prior day's Wall Street rebound and easing of short-term yields. European equity futures indicate a marginally negative open with Euro Stoxx 50 futures down 0.2% after the cash market closed with losses of 0.1% on Wednesday. FX DXY remained lacklustre after recent mild losses and the ultimately mixed performance against G10 counterparts, while there were few fresh drivers as geopolitical headlines remained in focus and dollar-specific newsflow was still pretty light. Nonetheless, Fed's Williams said that rates are in a good place to balance the Fed’s dual mandate and reiterated his support for the previous decision to hold, with future policy dependent on the totality of incoming data, while participants look ahead to comments from Fed's Waller due later ahead of tomorrow's key NFP report. EUR/USD eked modest gains and retested the 1.1600 level, albeit with upside limited following the prior day's indecision and with very little in the way of pertinent catalysts to drive the single currency. GBP/USD edged slightly higher in range-bound trade following previous oscillations through the 1.3500 level and with price action not helped by the continued lack of UK data. USD/JPY extended on the prior day's decline with USD/JPY breaching the 158.00 level to the downside after the Japanese currency was supported on Wednesday despite no obvious news catalysts, leading to some speculation of intervention, although there have been increased BoJ rate hike bets and some jawboning from US Treasury Secretary Bessent, who said that he knows what the Japanese are planning on doing. Antipodeans price action was range-bound with AUD/USD trading sideways, while NZD/USD clawed back some of its post-RBNZ losses. FIXED INCOME 10yr UST futures continued its gradual rebound from contract lows after the 10yr yield slightly eased back from the highest level in nearly 3 years, and with the curve steepening, while attention turns to Fed's Waller later ahead of Friday's NFP. Bund futures nursed some of the recent losses although remained beneath the 123.00 level, with the rebound limited as energy prices remain elevated, providing inflationary-related headwinds. 10yr JGB futures rebounded overnight as yields pulled back from multi-decade highs, including the 10yr yield which returned to below 3.00%, although prices are off intraday highs following the slightly weaker than previous 30yr JGB auction. COMMODITIES Crude futures lacked firm direction after marginally gaining in two-way trade yesterday amid somewhat mixed comments from US President Trump, who said the renewed campaign against Iran would not continue for too long, but also stated that the US was prepared to conduct another attack on Iran. Nonetheless, there were reports overnight that the US base in Kuwait was hit by a strike, which ultimately risks triggering another round of tit-for-tat retaliations. US escorted 40 commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, which carried 18mln bbls of oil. Venezuelan government and Chevron (CVX) confirmed they had signed agreements for oil expansion projects, while the government and Italy's Eni (ENI IM) also signed agreements for oil expansion projects. Spot gold extended on the prior day's rebound and returned to above the USD 4,400/oz level after benefiting from dollar weakness and as yields eased back from recent peaks. Copper futures traded with modest gains alongside the mostly positive risk sentiment. CRYPTO Bitcoin eked out mild gains after finding early support at the USD 77,000 level. NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES RBNZ Governor Breman said a gradual removal of monetary stimulus is appropriate to return inflation to target while still supporting growth and employment. Breman said she sees risk of more indirect inflation from fuel and stated there is real risk that unless we respond in monetary policy, inflation expectations will get out of hand. US Treasury Secretary Bessent said "I know what the Japanese are planning on doing". DATA RECAP Chinese RatingDog Services PMI (Aug) 51.4 vs. Exp. 50.6 (Prev. 50.4) Chinese RatingDog Composite PMI (Aug) 52.1 (Prev. 50.8) Australian Trade Balance (Jul) 1.923B vs. Exp. 1.40B (Prev. 1.929B) Australian Exports (Jul MM) -3.3% (Prev. 9.6%) Australian Imports (Jul MM) -2.5% (Prev. -0.2%) GEOPOLITICS RUSSIA-UKRAINE Ukrainian President Zelensky reportedly plans to visit Canada next week, although the trip is yet to be finalised, according to The Globe and Mail citing sources. US President Trump said regarding Russia's war in Ukraine that they have got to stop that war, while he wants to do a summit with Russian President Putin when they are ready to do a peace deal on Ukraine. US Ambassador to NATO Whitaker said Russia’s aggressive actions, invasion of Ukraine and prior annexation of Crimea lead the US to believe that Russia can be unpredictable and could be willing to take action against a NATO country. Furthermore, he said recent statements by Russian President Putin do not leave him optimistic, while he added that Ukraine needs to be able to defend itself as long as it takes until the war can be brought to an end. OTHER China's Ministry of Natural Resources reportedly organises a marine survey of waters east of Taiwan, while China's Coast Guard also said it conducts routine law enforcement patrols in those waters. Venezuela's Interim President said the US and Venezuela are working to lift US sanctions on Venezuela. EU/UK NOTABLE HEADLINES UK Business Secretary Reynolds seeks to quell fears of an exit tax on companies spun out from UK universities that move abroad, according to FT.