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August 21, 2026 - 00:05
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(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia were set to drop after US equities fell as oil prices and benchmark bond yields climbed, with investors betting that the Treasury’s efforts to contain borrowing costs may offer only a temporary reprieve.Thirty-year US bond yields rose even after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent flagged scope for larger debt buybacks and an upcoming fiscal plan. The S&P 500 dropped 0.9%, with Walmart Inc. sinking the most since 2022 after disappointing sales. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.7% for a fifth straight loss. Equity-index futures pointed to declines at the open in Japan, South Korea and Australia, while US contracts were little changed in early trading.Brent crude jumped as much as 3.4% to nearly $95 a barrel on Thursday, its highest in almost four weeks, after President Donald Trump threatened Iran with “economic warfare” and said Tehran had failed to accept a deal. The dollar strengthened, while Bitcoin topped $72,000.The moves in bonds extended a volatile stretch on Wall Street as a series of Treasury decisions underscored growing concern over elevated long-term yields. The 10-year yield ended Thursday six basis-points higher at 4.70%, with US bonds paring the gains they posted Wednesday when the Treasury Department announced its plans to increase buybacks of longer-dated debt.While traders initially cheered Wednesday’s action, the enthusiasm didn’t last long because it doesn’t address the overarching reasons for the rise in yields, said Mark Malek, chief investment officer of Muriel Siebert & Co. “It was just a housekeeping move destined to be short-term, at best.”Bessent played down Thursday’s market moves, saying “anything that happens within a 24-hour period is noise.” He also said the expanded buyback operations “could be more than the $4 billion” size planned to start next month.“My view is that the ‘Bessent put’ is still going to fail to keep yields down from multi-decade highs over the longer term,” said Hardika Singh at Fundstrat Global Advisors. “Making yields go down over the longer period will require the painful work of bringing down the debt.”Traders will now look toward Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh’s speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium next week for clues on the path of interest rates.In corporate news, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s profit plunged more than 75% after the Chinese company ratcheted up quarterly capital spending to almost $10 billion, aiming to safeguard its position in a fiercely competitive global AI arena. Anthropic PBC expects to match or beat the size of SpaceX’s record-setting initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.Corporate Highlights:Broadcom Inc. is in talks with a group of lenders to raise more than $60 billion in debt for an AI chip financing deal that will benefit Anthropic PBC and other companies, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Super Micro Computer Inc. completed an independent probe into the alleged smuggling of Nvidia Corp. chips into China, with the investigation team concluding the current senior management had no knowledge of the purported scheme. Deere & Co. jumped after the tractor maker said it’s seeing a boost in orders for its machinery, raising hopes that the agriculture sector is poised for recovery. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures were little changed as of 7:03 a.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures were little changed S&P/ASX 200 futures fell 0.3% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1681 The Japanese yen was little changed at 159.04 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7242 per dollar The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.7113 CryptocurrenciesBitcoin was little changed at $72,625.49 Ether fell 0.2% to $2,314.4 CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.6% to $86.31 a barrel Spot gold was little changed This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
