• APAC stocks were mostly lower following the flat performance stateside ahead of a flurry of central bank meetings.
• European equity futures are indicative of a contained open with Euro Stoxx 50 future flat after the cash market closed down 1.4% yesterday.
• FX markets are steady with the DXY maintaining 105 status, EUR/USD rangebound and USD/JPY bouncing off support at 147.50.
• Crude futures continued to gain with Brent crude futures above the USD 95.00/bbl level for the first time since November.
• Looking ahead, highlights include EZ CPI (Final) & Canadian CPI, ECB’s Elderson, Supply from UK & US.

US TRADE

EQUITIES

• US stocks finished little changed with catalysts light and price action choppy ahead of this week's slew of central bank updates, while there was mild outperformance in the energy sector amid rising oil prices.
• SPX +0.07% at 4,454, NDX +0.15% at 15,225, DJI +0.02% at 34,624, RUT -0.69% at 1,834
• Click here for a detailed summary.

NOTABLE US HEADLINES

• US House Speaker McCarthy said he will bring the stopgap spending measure to the House floor this Thursday.
• UAW president said they will announce new plants to strike on Friday at 12:00EDT if there is no serious progress reached. In relevant news, Canada's Unifor president warned there would be a strike against all Ford (F) facilities if a deal was not reached on Monday night, while it was later reported that negotiations were continuing with a late caucus meeting.

APAC TRADE

EQUITIES

• APAC stocks were mostly lower following the flat performance stateside amid a lack of catalysts and with risk appetite sapped as markets brace for the approaching flurry of central bank meetings.
• ASX 200 was pressured as weakness in real estate and financials led the declines from early on, while the RBA minutes from the September meeting provided very little in the way of new information.
• Nikkei 225 underperformed as recent losses in the region caught up to the index on return from the holiday closure and with sentiment also dampened with participants second-guessing if BoJ Governor Ueda will lay the groundwork this week for a future exit.
• Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were choppy owing to the pressure in tech and mixed fortunes among the property stocks but with downside stemmed following further US-China talks and the PBoC’s continued liquidity efforts.
• US equity futures remained flat amid a non-committal tone ahead of the incoming central bank storm.
• European equity futures are indicative of a contained open with Euro Stoxx 50 future flat after the cash market closed down 1.4% yesterday.

FX

• DXY traded steady and was kept afloat by a floor near the 105.00 level as participants lacked conviction ahead of the upcoming various central bank policy announcements including tomorrow's FOMC rate decision.
• EUR/USD was rangebound and held on to some of the prior day’s gains following recent source reports regarding future ECB discussions to address excess liquidity in the banking system.
• GBP/USD struggled for direction after the prior day’s whipsawing back and forth of the 1.2400 level.
• USD/JPY was marginally higher after bouncing off support at the 147.50 level.
• Antipodeans were indecisive in the absence of major catalysts or fresh insights from the RBA minutes.
• PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1733 vs exp. 7.2839 (prev. 7.1736)

FIXED INCOME

• 10yr UST futures traded steady after yesterday’s intraday rebound but with upside capped ahead of a 20yr auction stateside and with the FOMC to begin its two-day meeting later today.
• Bund futures slightly extended on the recent rebound and just about climbed above the 130.00 level.
• 10yr JGB futures were choppy with prices not helped by weaker demand at the enhanced liquidity auction.

COMMODITIES

• Crude futures continued to gain amid the ongoing supply-related themes including expectations for a squeeze which lifted Brent crude futures to above the USD 95.00/bbl level for the first time since November.
• Saudi Energy Minister said the situation is not bad yet and the jury's still out regarding Chinese oil demand which is the fundamental issue, according to Energy Intel's Bakr.
• EIA said US total shale regions' oil production for October is seen lower by 41k BPD at 9.391mln BPD (prev. 27k BPD fall in Sep) which is the lowest since May.
• US President Biden’s administration released a statement saying it "strongly opposes" legislation to change the procedure for approval on import and export of natural gas.
• Spot gold was rangebound alongside an uneventful greenback as markets await central bank announcements.
• Copper futures were pressured amid the mostly negative mood across Asia and indecision in China.

CRYPTO

• Bitcoin eked marginal gains with price action contained after yesterday's fluctuations.

NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES

• Chinese Foreign Minister Wang said China and Russia pursue an independent foreign policy and the cooperation between the sides is not aimed at a third party and will not be influenced by a third party. Wang also stated that China and Russia should follow the trend of progress of the times, show their responsibilities as major countries, fulfil their international obligations and strengthen strategic cooperation.
• China summoned the German envoy after German Foreign Minister Baerbock's recently described Chinese President Xi as a dictator on US television, according to SCMP.
• US Treasury Secretary Yellen said it would be "disastrous" for the US to decouple from China but added that the US needs to "derisk".
• European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said it is important that China and EU keep communications open including in various degrees where they disagree, while she added China is a partner, competitor and systemic rival for Europe. Furthermore, she added that China's continued economic success requires an attractive investment environment for foreign companies and that the EU does not seek to decouple from China.
• RBA Minutes from the September 5th meeting stated they considered raising rates by 25bps or holding steady and the case for holding steady was stronger, while it added that recent data did not materially alter the economic outlook. Furthermore, it reiterated that some further tightening of monetary policy may be required should inflation prove more persistent than expected.

GEOPOLITICS

• G7 Foreign Ministers meeting chair Japan said Russia must withdraw its troops and military equipment from the internationally recognised territory of Ukraine immediately, completely and unconditionally, while G7 members condemned Russia for staging sham elections in illegally occupied territories of Ukraine and will never recognise Russia's illegitimate claims. G7 reiterated the call on third parties to cease any and all assistance to Russia's war of aggression or face severe costs and it called on China to press Russia to stop its military aggression and immediately withdraw its troops from Ukraine.
• Russian and Chinese Foreign Ministers noted the 'futility' of attempts to resolve the Ukraine crisis without due account for Russian interest and participation, while they also noted the closeness of their positions on anti-Russian and anti-Chinese character of US actions in international affairs, according to Reuters.
• US State Department said following a meeting between Secretary of State Blinken and Chinese Vice President Han that the sides had a candid and constructive discussion. Furthermore, they exchanged views on Russia's war in Ukraine and North Korea's provocative actions, while Blinken underscored the importance of peace across the Taiwan Strait, according to Reuters.
• US, Japan and South Korea officials shared concerns that Russia-North Korea cooperation may have a negative impact on peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, according to Japan's Foreign Ministry.
• South Korean Foreign Ministry announced the successful transfer of Iran's frozen funds to a third country and hopes that this will lead to the development of bilateral ties, according to Reuters.
• White House said it was deeply concerned about allegations made by Canadian PM Trudeau regarding the killing of a Sikh leader and it is critical that Canada's investigation proceed and perpetrators are brought to justice. Furthermore, India's government said allegations of Indian government involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated, while it added that allegations made by Canadian PM Trudeau to PM Modi regarding India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada were completely rejected, according to Reuters.

EU/UK

• ECB's Villeroy said the ECB will maintain rates at 4% as needed.
• French Central Bank Estimates showed HICP inflation is seen at 5.8% in 2023 (prev. 5.6% in June), 2.6% in 2024 (prev. 2.4%) and 1.8% in 2025 (prev. 1.9%), while GDP growth is seen at 0.9% in 2023 (prev. 0.7% in June), 0.9% in 2024 (prev. 1.0% ) and 1.3% in 2025 (prev. 1.5%).