Asian Shares Surge as Kospi Leads Gains Following Wall Street Rally

Asian stock markets saw gains on Thursday, closely following Wall Street’s positive movement. South Korea’s Kospi led the surge with a substantial increase of over 6%.

U.S. futures climbed following the U.S. Treasury Department’s announcement that it plans to significantly increase purchases of long-term government debt. This move is likely to support share prices by boosting bond prices and lowering yields.

Key Performances in Asian Markets

The Kospi index surged by 6.1% to reach 6,858.91, recovering sharply from a 5.8% drop on Wednesday. This decline was primarily due to renewed selling in stocks related to artificial intelligence. Samsung Electronics experienced a remarkable jump of 9.7%, while SK Hynix, a major memory chipmaker, saw its shares rise by 14.1% after revealing an extensive share buyback plan.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 increased by 1.3% to 66,178.26, reversing earlier declines in the week. Japan reported a trade deficit for the third month in a row in July, with imports and exports both reaching record levels. OpenAI investor SoftBank Group’s shares rose by 3.8%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index advanced by 1.1% to 25,786.32, and the Shanghai Composite index edged up by 0.3% to 3,905.23. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3% to 9,066.40. Taiwan’s Taiex remained nearly flat, while India’s Sensex increased by 0.7%.

Bond Market Reactions

Bond yields in the U.S. fell after the Treasury’s debt buyback announcement. Lower bond yields often reflect rising bond prices. The benchmark S&P 500 rose by 0.2%, marking its first increase in four days. Similarly, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite both added 0.2%.

Concerns about inflation, intensified by the ongoing conflict in Iran and growing government debt, have driven bond yields higher in recent months. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield decreased to about 4.64% from Tuesday’s 4.71%, which is still elevated compared to pre-war levels. The 30-year Treasury yield dropped to 5.18% from 5.28%.

In Asia, bond yields also eased. Japan’s 10-year bond yield fell to approximately 2.83% from over 2.89% on Wednesday, remaining close to 30-year highs.

Oil and Currency Market Developments

Oil prices saw a slight uptick on Thursday amid minimal progress in U.S.-Iran negotiations over the conflict. Brent crude, the global benchmark, increased by 0.3% to $91.90 a barrel, a notable rise from its $72 per barrel price before the conflict began. U.S. benchmark crude adjusted higher by 0.2% to $84.57 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar strengthened to 158.60 Japanese yen from 158.16 yen, while the euro slightly decreased, trading at $1.1676 compared to $1.1677.

AP Business Writer Stan Choe also contributed to this report.