Asian Stocks Rebound, Long Bonds Drop After Fed: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Asian shares rose for the first time in three days and US equity-index futures advanced as a recent chip-led selloff showed signs of easing. Longer-dated Treasuries fell on uncertainty about the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook.

MSCI’s Asian stocks benchmark climbed 0.6%, with the Kospi Index in South Korea — a bellwether for the artificial intelligence trade — rising 2.2% as the government announced additional measures to curb demand for leveraged exchange-traded funds. Samsung Electronics Co. added 4.3% after chip profit soared 250-fold.

Contracts for the Nasdaq 100 Index climbed 1% after the underlying gauge entered a technical correction on Wednesday. Helping sentiment, Microsoft Corp. gained almost 9% in extended trading after reporting its fastest cloud-computing growth in four years. Meta Platforms Inc., however, fell 7.5% in post market following a disappointing revenue forecast for the current year.

“Microsoft’s solid earnings have provided a dose of relief and given the market fresh hope that the tech trade still has legs,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade. “Sentiment appears to be stabilizing for now, though traders will be watching the rest of the mega-cap reports closely to see whether this rebound can gather real momentum.”

Meanwhile, the Treasury yield curve steepened after the Fed held interest rates steady. The 30-year yield jumped more than 10 basis points to the highest level since 2007 during the US session. Treasuries steadied in early Asian trading Thursday. A Bloomberg gauge of the dollar edged lower for a fifth day.

Investors have been whipsawed this week by three themes: a global selloff in semiconductor stocks amid concerns about returns on billions of dollars of AI spending, renewed fighting in the Middle East and uncertainty over the Fed’s inflation fight. The lack of updated policy guidance by the US central bank, coupled with a divided committee, left markets with little clarity on the path for rates.

“There is very little to hang your head on in the markets,” Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, told Bloomberg Television. “It was also a little bit complicated to figure out what was the basis of the decision,” he said, adding that the Fed’s abandonment of guidance is fueling historic bond market volatility.

Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude edged lower early Thursday even as the US launched a new wave of strikes against Iran.

WTI slipped 1.2% to trade around $83.45 a barrel. Gold climbed for a second day after the Fed kept rates unchanged, trading around $4,080 an ounce.

In stocks, an Asian gauge of semiconductors climbed 0.9% as the recent selloff in chip stocks eased.

“There’s a sense that the chip selloff through yesterday had gone too far, so many are buying back and covering their short positions,” said Tomo Kinoshita, global market strategist at Invesco. “But the market is still searching for its bottom.”

The bond market remained in the spotlight and attention now turns to the Bank of England’s policy decision due Thursday, followed by the Bank of Japan Friday.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said the decision to leave rates unchanged wasn’t a sign of inertia at the central bank and that markets would be free to chart their own course based on economic signals. Three of the Fed’s 12 voting officials dissented in favor of a rate increase, highlighting persistent concerns about inflation.

After the Fed kept interest rates unchanged for a seventh straight month, investors dumped 30-year Treasury bonds, sending the yield shooting up as much as 14 basis points to nearly 5.23%, a 19-year high. The moves revealed investors are growing increasingly concerned that Warsh won’t manage to rein in inflation that has run above the Fed’s target for five straight years.

“Despite three committee dissents in favor of a July hike, Chair Warsh stopped short of flagging an imminent hike, echoing June’s tone,” said Fabien Yip, a market analyst at IG International in Sydney. “That is starting to unsettle investors: a Fed unwilling to commit to further tightening raises the question of whether it can keep long-term inflation expectations anchored.”

Corporate Highlights:

Qualcomm Inc., the largest maker of smartphone processors, gave a weak profit forecast for the current quarter, signaling that component shortages and rising costs are taking a toll on its main market. Arm Holdings Plc delivered a sales forecast that failed to impress investors, who have grown increasingly wary about chip-industry prospects in recent days. Starbucks Corp. raised its annual outlook after quarterly results surpassed market estimates, a sign that efforts to attract diners with speedier service and new products are paying off. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% as of 11:42 a.m. Tokyo time Japan’s Topix fell 0.3% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was little changed The Shanghai Composite fell 0.5% Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.2% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1454 The Japanese yen was little changed at 163.48 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7614 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 1.1% to $64,171.52 Ether rose 1.5% to $1,910.38 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.68% Japan’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 2.775% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced six basis points to 4.97% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.1% to $83.56 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.2% to $4,074.30 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Winnie Hsu, Alice French, Carmeli Argana and Elaine Lai.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.