US-EU: Euronews: Kallas-Rubio Meeting On Ukraine Cancelled At Short Notice
Jorge Liboreiro at Euronews posts on X: "The expected meeting between [European Commission] High Representative [for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy] Kaja Kallas and [US] Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been cancelled, Euronews has learned. Kallas is already in Washington. She will meet with representatives from Congress and Senate and speak at two different events."
- The missed meeting will come as a further concern for the EU as it fears being shut out of talks involving the US and Russia on ending the war in Ukraine.
- Rubio missed a meeting of EU foreign ministers in late January shortly after his confirmation. Kallas spoke publicly of the invite, with the lack of any response from the State Department viewed as a notable snub.
- The reason for the meeting's cancellation is unclear at present. It may relate to Kallas' comments earlier in the week regarding the alleged 'strength' of the representation of Russia's war narrative in Washington, D.C.
- Kyiv Independent reported "Kallas stressed that no agreement regarding Ukraine or Europe can work without their participation. The EU's top diplomat said she plans to discuss "these and other issues" with Rubio and other officials in the U.S. [...]. Kallas also suggested that "the messages coming out of the U.S." regarding the elections in Ukraine suggest that "the Russian narrative is very strongly represented there."
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BONDS: Off Highs As E-minis Stabilise
Broader risk-sentiment continues to dominate. Core global FI markets have ticked away from session highs as e-minis find a bit of a pre-market base over the last couple of hours.
- Speculation linked to Chinese firm DeepSeek’s AI advancements continues to dominate discussions (details on feedthrough for chip capex, efficacy of sanctions on China and risks to U.S. tech dominance all getting some airtime).
- The 7- to 10-Year zone leads the rally on the U.S., German & UK curves, with Tsys outperforming given perceived risks to U.S. tech.
- Yields on the Tsy curve are 8-11bp lower. 1.5-3.0bp off lows. Benchmarks out to 20s registered fresh ’25 lows during the London morning rally.
STIR: Repo Reference Rates
- Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR): 4.34% (-0.01), volume: $2.289T
- Broad General Collateral Rate (BGCR): 4.33% (-0.01), volume: $912B
- Tri-Party General Collateral Rate (TGCR): 4.33% (-0.01), volume: $875B
- (rate, volume levels reflect prior session)
EQUITIES: DeepSeek Sell-Off Cemented, Linked Stocks Sit Sharply Lower Pre-Market
Pre-market weakness in both direct and indirectly linked AI names sticks into the cash open - as DeepSeek's success undermines the AI-driven US equity rally.
Pre-market, e-mini S&P off by 2.3%, NASDAQ futs off 3.9%:
- Nvidia shares lower by 11.3%(earnings Feb 26th)
- Meta Platforms lower by 3.8% (earnings on Wednesday)
- Microsoft lower by 6.0% (earnings on Wednesday)
- Tesla lower by 4.3% (earnings on Wednesday)
That primes markets to shed over $700bln in market cap at the open across those four stocks alone. Why is Deepseek different? Deepseek's open-source, free-to-play approach twinned with highly regarded efficiency and accuracy undermines not only the revenue-generating capacity of models produced by OpenAI, Alphabet, Meta and others - but also the significant levels of investment in AI from US firms over the past five years. It also shows the ability of Chinese firms to skirt chip sanctions targeted at limiting their AI capacity.
More here: https://www.mnimarkets.com/articles/deepseek-why-is-this-app-undermining-markets-1737968390827
