Newsquawk Daily European Opening News - 23rd October 2026

• APAC equities were under pressure, mostly following the negative tech-led Wall St. handover; European futures now point to a contained open.
• USD modestly firmer vs major peers, EUR awaits Moody's and weekend French activity while the NZD made a marginal recovery.
• Contained trade for fixed income after the recent FTQ for most core counterparts.
• Crude bid by c. 0.7% amid renewed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and reports around the IDF & US military.
• US President Trump says the US crushed Iran, and may want to do it a "little more".
• Looking ahead, highlights include Global Flash PMIs (Oct), UK Retail Sales (Sep), Canadian Retail Sales (Sep), CBR Policy Announcement (Oct), Speakers including ECB's Cipollone, Earnings from American Express, SLB, Autoliv, Safran, Credit Ratings Updates including Moody's on France, S&P on Germany & Scope on Italy.

As of 06:20BST/01:20EDT

• Click for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.

• US President Trump said Iran was attempting to drive up oil prices ahead of the US midterm elections, claiming Tehran was fabricating reports of attacks and mines, while he added that more oil was passing through the Strait of Hormuz than before the conflict began.
• US President Trump said the US crushed the Islamic Republic and may want to do it a little bit more.
• US Ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, said the US is prepared for a long stand-off with Iran and acknowledged that the US could still be mired in a stalemate with Iran a year from now, according to FT.
• US State Department spokesperson said there is no US-Turkey proposal regarding Lebanon and no US-backed proposals to change Lebanon's political structure, while a US source told Al Arabiya that the Florida meetings between Lebanon and Israel ended without a breakthrough.
• Israeli military official told Channel 12 there was no reason to attack Iran before the elections, but said Israel would act if it detected preparations for an Iranian attack.
• Iranian Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf warned if the US chooses the wrong path, it will gain nothing, with all consequences bitter and dark.
• Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi called out French President Macron regarding contradictions in his JCPOA stance.
• Iran's IRGC threatened to target US bases if commercial ships continue transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Fox News.
• BeamTracker reported the sound of an explosion was heard in the Strait of Hormuz area at a location that had previously been the passage point of violating ships in the strait.
• Saudi Civil Defence announced an early warning system was activated in Riyadh and sources reported loud explosions heard in Riyadh, although Saudi Civil Defence later declared that danger had passed in Riyadh. Saudi Civil Defence also issued emergency danger warnings in Abha city and Khamis Mushait, but announced that the danger had passed shortly after.
• Saudi-led coalition said air defences intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by Houthi militia towards Riyadh, while it intercepted and destroyed two drones targeting the southern region.
• Saudi airstrikes targeted the water authority building in Al Hazm district of Al Jawf province in Yemen.
• Yemeni forces warned airlines again not to enter Saudi airspace or airports, according to Nour News.

EQUITIES

• US stocks were pressured as weakness in AI-related names weighed, despite gains in the equal-weight gauge (RSP +0.7%), while earnings beats from Lam Research (LRCX -11.8%) and Meta (META -7.0%) were not well received, with the latter's limited FY27 guidance sparking concerns over its spending, margins and funding, resulting in its 5yr CDS hitting a new all-time high. SpaceX (SPCX) fell 9.1%, reversing Wednesday's post-earnings gains, while Tesla (TSLA -3.0%) also retreated in the aftermath of its results. As such, Treasuries were underpinned by a flight to quality and yields fell sharply once again, with both 7yr and 10yr yields plunging below 5.0% as the haven bid remained in full force.
• SPX -1.21% at 7,663, NDX -2.90% at 28,959, DJI +0.02% at 52,867, RUT +0.11% at 2,784.
• Click here for a detailed summary.

TARIFFS/TRADE

• US President Trump invoked Section 232 on wind turbine imports.
• Canada's US trade negotiator Charette said not to expect to go back to tariff-free trade with the US.
• European Commission will discuss drug-pricing concerns raised by EU countries and pharmaceutical companies as they navigate pressure from the US, according to Politico.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• US President Trump signed an order on housing costs, aiming to cut mortgage insurance premiums.
• OpenAI is raising up to USD 30bln in a funding round at a USD 1.25tln valuation, led by UAE investors, while it is negotiating a commercial deal that would secure more computing capacity from the UAE, according to CNBC citing sources.

EQUITIES

• APAC stocks were mostly negative following the weak lead from Wall St, where a deepening of the tech rout had spurred a flight to quality, while geopolitical concerns linger following reports that the US and Israel have drawn up plans for renewed strikes on Iran, which could be implemented following the US midterm election.
• ASX 200 was dragged lower by weakness in mining, materials, resources and tech stocks, although the downside was stemmed by some resilience in consumer discretionary, financials, real estate and utilities, while preliminary PMI data was uninspiring, with all main figures in contraction territory.
• Nikkei 225 briefly retreated beneath the 62,000 level with notable weakness in tech and mining stocks, while the latest inflation data from Japan mostly matched estimates and showed an acceleration from the previous, with headline and core readings back above the 2% price target.
• KOSPI underperformed as the tech sell-off rolled over into Asia, and with SK Hynix also not helped after it pulled the plug on plans to list its Solidigm unit on the Nasdaq due to regulatory and market volatility concerns.
• Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed as the Hong Kong benchmark rebounded from an early dip with the help of resilience in China's top EV makers, while the mainland initially conformed to the mostly downbeat mood.
• Note, the Taiwan session was suspended amid the approaching typhoon; potentially pushing pressure onto regional peers.
• US equity futures were lacklustre following the recent tech sell-off.
• European equity futures indicate an uneventful cash market open with Euro Stoxx 50 futures unchanged overnight after finishing with losses of 1.9% on Thursday.

FX

• DXY eked slight gains in otherwise range-bound trade in the absence of any major FX-moving catalysts and with a lack of tier-1 data out of the US, while Initial Jobless Claims continued to hover around the 200k mark, reflecting the low-hire, low-fire economy.
• EUR/USD struggled for direction after recent fluctuations and as concerns in France remain rife, while MUFG wrote that the sell-off in French government bonds could be extended by Moody's sovereign credit rating review, which is scheduled for later this evening. Further, protest activity is expected to resume on the weekend, adding pressure to the EUR and biasing spreads wider.
• GBP/USD traded little changed after the prior day's indecisive performance through the 1.3400 level, while participants look ahead to UK Retail Sales and global PMI releases.
• USD/JPY rebounded after briefly sliding beneath the 157.00 handle yesterday as the deepening tech rout spurred demand for haven currencies, while the overnight rebound was facilitated by a drop in Japanese yields.
• Antipodeans were mixed as AUD was lacklustre and NZD recovered from some of its recent losses amid rate hike expectations, with ANZ anticipating the RBNZ will raise rates at the next three meetings, citing Q3 core inflation data.
• PBoC set USD/CNY midpoint at 6.7180 vs exp. 6.6758 (prev. 6.7195).

FIXED INCOME

• 10yr UST futures plateaued overnight after the previous day's rally, in which the 7yr and 10yr yields plunged beneath 5%, as the tech sell-off and AI concerns spurred haven demand and unwound Fed rate hike bets.
• Bund futures were relatively contained after recently climbing alongside a flight-to-quality.
• 10yr JGB futures tracked the advances in global peers and climbed to just shy of the 127.00 level, while prices have largely ignored the latest Japanese National CPI data, which mostly matched estimates and accelerated from the previous, with headline and Core CPI both returning to above the 2.0% price target.

COMMODITIES

• Crude futures kept afloat after climbing amid escalation concerns following renewed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and reports that the IDF and US military drew up plans to resume strikes on Iran in the coming weeks.
• US President Trump said they will release USD 150 mln to increase US refining capacity.
• QatarEnergy is in advanced talks with Venture Global (VG) to purchase at least 3mln metric tonnes of LNG per year, according to reports.
• Spot gold continued to decline and briefly breached the USD 4,000/oz level to the downside after recently suffering as geopolitical concerns and a deepening tech rout weighed on risk assets and the metals complex.
• Copper futures mildly rebounded after slipping to a monthly low alongside the negative risk sentiment.

CRYPTO

• Bitcoin mildly gained overnight but remained beneath the USD 82,000 level.

NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES

• Japan's Economy Minister Kiuchi said the government decision on whether to declare an official end to deflation will be made looking comprehensively at CPI, GDP deflator and background behind the moves in underlying inflation, while he doesn't think conditions are met for the government to declare an official end to deflation. Furthermore, he hopes the BoJ guides policy appropriately based on a joint statement with the government stipulating the need for price stability in a stable and sustainable manner.
• Japan's government considers cutting gasoline subsidies from December, according to officials.

DATA RECAP

• Japanese CPI (Sep YY) 2.1% vs. Exp. 2.1% (Prev. 1.9%)
• Japanese Core CPI (Sep YY) 2.1% vs. Exp. 2.1% (Prev. 1.7%)
• Japanese CPI Ex-Food and Energy (Sep YY) 2.4% vs. Exp. 2.3% (Prev. 1.9%)
• Australian S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Flash (Oct) 49.7 (Prev. 49.6)
• Australian S&P Global Services PMI Flash (Oct) 47.8 (Prev. 51.9)
• Australian S&P Global Composite PMI Flash (Oct) 47.7 (Prev. 51.3)

RUSSIA-UKRAINE

• Ukrainian President Zelensky said Ukraine was ready for peace talks at the G20, but had not received an invitation.
• Ukraine seeks to move customs checks inside the EU to avoid Russian drones, with Kyiv in discussions with Poland and Slovakia about moving customs checks into their territories to try and make trucks safer, according to FT.
• Ukraine's Air Force reported guided bombs struck Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk.
• Ukrainian energy company DTEK said a Russian attack hit one of its power stations.
• US President Trump called Elon Musk and asked him to lift Ukraine Starlink (SPCX) restrictions, according to WSJ. It was separately reported that President Trump said regarding Ukraine’s Starlink access that it’s a very interesting situation and wouldn’t comment on whether he had spoken to Elon Musk, but noted the bottom line is that Musk put it back.
• Russian President Putin said Russia is not prepared for war with Europe and that Russia is ready to resume tripartite talks, according to RIA.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• UK Chancellor Healey is to raise taxes on retiring entrepreneurs, according to The Telegraph.

DATA RECAP

• UK GfK Consumer Confidence (Oct) -24 vs. Exp. -15 (Prev. -13)