Asian Stock Markets Surge as U.S. Treasury Takes Action

Asian stock markets saw strong advances on Thursday, driven by Wall Street’s gains and a significant move by the U.S. Treasury Department.

South Korea’s Kospi index jumped over 6%, marking a surge to 6,858.91. This follows a previous day’s decline of 5.8% amid renewed selling of AI-related shares. Notable gains included Samsung Electronics, up 9.7%, and SK Hynix, a memory chipmaker, which surged by 14.1% after announcing a substantial share buyback plan.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose by 1.3% to 66,178.26, reversing earlier declines. Despite Japan reporting a trade deficit for a third consecutive month with record highs in both imports and exports, shares of SoftBank Group, an OpenAI investor, increased by 3.8%.

The U.S. Treasury’s decision to significantly increase purchases of longer-term government debt has been seen as a stabilizing move for the markets.

Bond yields, which had been rising due to factors like the ongoing crisis in Iran and high government debt, fell after the announcement. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield decreased to nearly 4.64% from 4.71%. The 30-year Treasury yield similarly fell to 5.18% from 5.28%.

The impact was also felt in Asia, where Japan’s 10-year government bond yield dropped to around 2.83%, having traded near 30-year highs. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.3%, and India’s Sensex climbed 0.7%, while Taiwan’s Taiex remained mostly unchanged.

Oil prices experienced mild increases as U.S.-Iran negotiations showed little progress. Brent crude rose 0.3% to $91.90 per barrel, significantly higher than pre-war levels of around $72 per barrel. The U.S. benchmark crude increased 0.2% to $84.57 per barrel.

Currency movements saw the U.S. dollar rise to 158.60 Japanese yen from 158.16 yen. Meanwhile, the euro adjusted slightly, trading at $1.1676.

These developments reflect how Asian markets are responding positively to recent economic measures and international events.