Newsquawk Daily Asia-Pac Opening News - 15th June 2026

• US and Iran reached an interim peace deal which would open up the Strait of Hormuz, with the official signing to take place on Friday in Switzerland.
• US President Trump posted on Sunday "The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all! I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!"
• Pakistan's PM Sharif said, following intensive talks, we are pleased to announce that the peace deal between the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been reached, with the official signing ceremony to take place on Friday, 19th June in Switzerland. Sharif also stated that both sides have declared an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and that with an agreement now in place, the mediators will facilitate a series of meetings this week.
• Looking ahead, highlights include New Zealand Performance of Services Index & Electronic Card Retail Sales, South Korean Trade Data, Japanese Tertiary Industry Activity Index.

LOOKING AHEAD

• Highlights include New Zealand Performance of Services Index & Electronic Card Retail Sales, South Korean Trade Data, Japanese Tertiary Industry Activity Index.
• Click for the Newsquawk Week Ahead.

IRAN CONFLICT

• US President Trump posted on Sunday "The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all! I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!"
• Pakistan's PM Sharif said, following intensive talks, we are pleased to announce that the peace deal between the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been reached, with the official signing ceremony to take place on Friday, 19th June in Switzerland. Sharif also stated that both sides have declared an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and that with an agreement now in place, the mediators will facilitate a series of meetings this week.
• US President Trump previously said an interim deal to end the conflict with Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz would be signed on Sunday, despite Iranian state media stating that there was no final decision on an agreement, while Fars News Agency reported that Iran said an agreement would not be reached by Trump’s Sunday timeline.
• US President said earlier that an Iran deal was imminent and he planned to issue a statement soon confirming the US has agreed to a deal with Iran, although Iran so far hasn’t confirmed, according to WSJ. Trump said they are to get nuclear dust when they are ready to go in, and it could be over the next 1-2 months regarding the timing of nuclear removal. Furthermore, he said he or VP Vance would sign the deal electronically and there would be strong inspections on Iran, while sanctions may be lifted depending on Iran's moves.
• US President Trump urged Israel to stop its operations after Israel bombed Lebanon’s capital of Beirut in retaliation for Hezbollah drone incursions, while he posted that the attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day that they are so close to a peace deal with Iran. Trump stated that Israel has the right to defend itself against threats, but the attack it was responding to was very small and meaningless, while he added that nobody was hurt, injured, or killed, and it should not disrupt this important process. Furthermore, he stated “There should be no more attacks by Israel anywhere in Lebanon, but there should also be no more attacks by any other party, including Hezbollah, against Israel.”
• US President Trump criticised Israeli PM Netanyahu following Israel’s bombing of Beirut and was reported to have used expletive language in a conversation with Netanyahu, while he told him not to conduct anymore strikes on Beirut and is to ask Iran not to fire at Israel in response, according to Fox News. There were also separate reports that Israeli PM Netanyahu is seeking an urgent meeting with US President Trump after the upcoming G7, while Trump told Axios that the signing of a deal with Iran was still on track for Sunday.
• US President Trump announced on Friday night that the US military shot down multiple one-way attack drones that were headed towards the Strait of Hormuz in a threat to commercial traffic.
• US President Trump is to meet with the US's Middle East partners at the G7 summit in France.
• US Secretary of State Rubio defended the US position regarding the Strait of Hormuz and discussed recent developments in a call with India’s External Affairs Minister after India protested regarding US strikes which killed three Indian mariners.
• Iran heavily criticised the strikes on Beirut and its Foreign Ministry said that the country holds the US and Israel responsible for the consequences of regional escalation.
• Iran said the draft US deal includes oil sanctions waiver, nuclear limits and asset release, while Iran reportedly circulated competing versions of the proposed interim agreement with the US.
• Iran Supreme National Security Council Secretary Zolghadr described Lebanon as the lifeblood of Iran’s strategic interests and warned that any violation of Iran’s red lines will not be tolerated. Furthermore, Iranian Supreme Leader’s adviser Velayati warned that ‘zero hour’ is upon us and that rocket launchers are being prepared after Israel’s attack on Beirut.
• Iran suspended all flights to and from its western airports on Sunday, according to Tasnim.
• Qatari mediators flew to Tehran on Sunday morning to help facilitate the finalisation of the US-Iran agreement.

US TRADE

• US stocks closed in the green on Friday amid the global risk-on trade as Iran and the US appeared closer than ever to a peace deal, although some points still needed clarification before the two countries sign on the dotted line. Highlighting how close they may be, mediator Pakistan PM Sharif said he can confirm that a final, agreed-upon text of the peace deal has been reached and Pakistan is now working closely with both sides to finalise the next steps, with source reports adding both the US and Iran have informed mediators of their readiness to sign. Sectors were largely in the green with only Consumer Discretionary and Health marginally in the red as a lot of focus surrounded the SpaceX IPO, which shares closed at USD 161/shr, against the IPO price of USD 135/shr.
• SPX +0.50% at 7,431, NDX +0.64% at 29,636, DJI +0.69% at 51,207, RUT +0.79% at 2,944.
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TARIFFS/TRADE

• US officials said the US and India are to discuss trade at the G7, although a deal was said not to be imminent, while it was separately reported that USTR Greer is to travel to India for trade talks in the week after the G7 leaders’ summit and that a trade agreement was possible.
• China’s MOFCOM said it firmly opposes the US decision to label additional firms as “military companies”, and accuses the US of using national security as a pretext to curb the development of Chinese firms.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• US President Trump denied claims that he filed a collusive lawsuit against a US agency under his control to orchestrate the creation of a USD 1.8bln weaponisation fund.
• US’s best weapon to combat the New World screwworm parasite is more than a year away from showing meaningful results, which raises concerns the outbreak could spread before then.
• US Screwworm outbreak reportedly poses new political risk for President Trump with 12 cases confirmed in Texas and New Mexico, while the USDA plans over USD 1bln fight against the outbreak, according to Axios.
• Coalition of US state attorneys general is probing OpenAI and requested information on a wide range of topics.
• Anthropic shut down access to its most advanced AI models, including Mythos, following the Trump administration’s sweeping order to keep the technology out of foreign hands.

GLOBAL

• Brazilian Nu Holdings Ltd co-founder apologised to Nubank customers after a mistaken app alert was sent to customers stating that the bank had been liquidated.

COMMODITIES

• Kuwait set crude prices for Asia at a premium of USD 5.25/bbl above the Oman/Dubai average.
• Polish PM Tusk said they are preparing to end fuel subsidies as peace talks between the US and Iran progress.
• Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Minister said Venezuela’s granting of a licence to Shell (SHEL LN) for the exploration and exploitation of gas will lead to 1.7tln cubic feet of gas being exported to his country.

GEOPOLITICAL

RUSSIA-UKRAINE

• US President Trump held a friendly and frank call with Russian President Putin on Sunday, during Trump’s birthday, while he also spoke with Ukrainian President Zelensky, even as peace talks between Russia and Ukraine were on hold.
• Ukraine targeted a Russian chemical plant and fuel depot in strikes.
• Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was reconnected to the grid after repairs were carried out under an IAEA-brokered local ceasefire.
• UK forces boarded a sanctioned tanker in the Channel on Sunday in a raid on Russia’s shadow fleet.

OTHER

• US President Trump said the US killed the leader of the Tren De Aragua drug cartel in a strike with the assistance of Venezuela.

ASIA-PAC

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• China issued guidelines on classifying and grading financial information data.
• China is setting up for a commercial launch of a cross-border digital currency platform that would be backed by the central banks of China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the UAE and Saudi Arabia to reduce reliance on the dollar and to draw Beijing closer to its Belt and Road trading partners, according to FT.
• China set out a plan to scale up new-energy heavy-duty trucks and targets 40% market penetration and a fleet of more than 1.6mln vehicles by 2030.
• South Korea agreed with the US to cooperate on the weak won, according to Yonhap.

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

• UK PM Starmer is set to backtrack on electric vehicle targets by reducing the all-electric cap from 80% to 50% by the end of the decade amid fears of job losses, according to FT.
• UK and Japan are expected to agree on a GBP 18bln clean energy investment deal that is predicted to create new jobs in the offshore wind, infrastructure and financial services sectors.
• UK is to announce a social media ban for teens this week, according to Culture Secretary Nandy.
• ECB’s Nagel said prices are likely to stay elevated for longer even if the Iran conflict ends soon.
• Fitch affirmed European Stability Mechanism at AAA; Outlook Stable, while it also affirmed Norway at AAA; Outlook Stable.