Markets Find Weekend News Flow Easy To Digest

Little market reaction to weekend news flow, with U.S. President Trump's "blessing" for an Oracle/TikTok deal grabbing attention. The POTUS "approved in concept" a deal in which Oracle would own 12.5% of a new TikTok Global company, with a further 7.5% stake to be bought by Walmart. Trump informed that as part of the deal, ByteDance will pay $5bn into a "patriotic" education fund in the U.S., but the company said that the first time it had heard about it was in media reports.

• Geopolitical tensions have also been in focus, as the U.S. announced snapback of sanctions on Iran and asked the international community to join, but the move gained little international traction. 13 out of 15 UN Security Council members and other signatories of the nuclear deal struck with Iran two years ago opposed the decision. Elsewhere, China ratcheted up tensions with Taiwan by releasing a video showing a military drill with Chinese bombers striking a location resembling a U.S. Air Force base on Guam.
• G10 FX have been happy to hold tight ranges. Sterling outperforms at the margin after the FT reported that UK Cll'r Sunak will extend the Treasury's business support loans programme to defend the economy against the impact of resurging coronavirus.
• T-Notes are little changed on the day, last trade +0-00+ at 139-13+.
• All three major e-minis re-opened lower, after cash S&P 500 Index closed below its 50-DMA on Friday, but they have trimmed initial losses.
• The main point of note on the Asia-Pac calendar is China's monthly LPR fixing, with most analysts expecting 1-and 5-Year rates to stay unchanged. South Korea's trade data for the first 20 days of the month may also provide some interest, albeit to a lesser extent. Japan observes a national holiday.