Asian Bonds Follow Treasuries Lower, Dollar Gains: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Asian bonds declined and Treasuries held losses as elevated oil prices kept inflation concerns alive. The dollar strengthened.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield traded around 5.29%, hovering near Wednesday’s peak and within reach of levels last seen in 2002. The yield on the 30-year steadied to 5.63%, having reached the highest since 2002 during New York trading.
Bonds across Asia Pacific followed the moves from the prior session as the yield curve steepened in Japan. Rates on Japan’s 30-year government debt climbed five basis points to 4.20%. Debt in Australia and New Zealand slipped as well.
US oil declined 0.8% to around $89.70 a barrel amid hopes a recovery in Middle East flows can be sustained. Brent crude for December delivery traded below $98 a barrel following a 1.9% advance in the prior session.
MSCI’s gauge of Asia Pacific equities dropped 0.2%. Tech drew attention as Micron Technology Inc. gave an upbeat forecast, but warned that rising compensation costs would weigh on profit margins. Japanese chip equipment makers were higher, but South Korean memory names were weak. Futures contracts for the S&P 500 Index climbed 0.4%.
Bonds remained in focus after global government debt posted its worst quarter since 2024 as oil near $100 a barrel revived concerns about persistent inflation. Some relief came after the August reading for the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge was softer than economists forecast, prompting money markets to cut the odds of an October interest-rate hike to less than 40%.
Wall Street’s late swings underscored uncertainty over the outlook for equities despite easing inflation concerns and reduced expectations for another Fed rate hike. Attention now turns to US payrolls data due Friday, while traders start paying increased attention to the midterm elections in November to assess whether stocks can regain ground.
“We believe a strong earnings season and getting past the midterm elections are what will break the market out of its trading range and see new highs by year-end,” said Chris Zaccarelli at Northlight Asset Management.
Elsewhere, the yen weakened against the dollar after minutes from the Bank of Japan’s September meeting disappointed investors looking for signs that policymakers may be preparing for another move this month. The currency fell 0.5% to around 158.10 per dollar.
The greenback strengthened against all its major peers, sending the New Zealand currency to its lowest since late November. A Bloomberg gauge of the US currency’s strength edged up 0.1% after wrapping up its best month since March.
“The outlook for further US Fed policy tightening, elevated oil prices — given the US’ status as a ‘net energy exporter’ — and fragile risk sentiment may continue to support the dollar over the near-term,” wrote Peter Dragicevich, Asia Pacific currency strategist at Corpay Inc.
Gold steadied around $4,160 an ounce, while silver edged up 0.8% to about $60.90 an ounce.
Global government bonds closed September 2.4% lower, with a Bloomberg index of the debt posting its worst quarterly loss since the three-month stretch at the end of 2024, when Donald Trump won a second term as US president and investors braced for a more expansionary fiscal policy.
“Bond markets are facing a triple whammy — big government spending, strong growth and geopolitical supply shocks,” said Jimmy Louca, senior portfolio manager at Australian Retirement Trust. “We’ve moved into a reflationary regime and the market has been slow to price it.”
Corporate Highlights:
Alphabet Inc. began rolling out the Gemini 4 Argon, its long-awaited flagship artificial intelligence model. The Federal Trade Commission is scrutinizing OpenAI, Anthropic PBC and other AI companies about the safety of their products amid high-profile cybersecurity incidents, according to a person familiar with the matter. Nidec Corp. shares plummeted as much as 20% in Tokyo after the Japanese motor maker’s auditor declined to give an opinion on its long-awaited financial statements. Apple Inc. plans to make its long-delayed push into the smart-home market on Oct. 13, marking a critical product expansion for the company under new Chief Executive Officer John Ternus.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% as of 12:12 p.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures fell 0.7% Japan’s Topix rose 0.1% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.8% Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.6% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1325 The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 158.11 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7144 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 0.2% to $83,440.88 Ether rose 0.2% to $2,686.53 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 5.29% Japan’s 10-year yield advanced six basis points to 3.110% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 5.40% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.9% to $89.64 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.2% to $4,167.42 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Ruth Carson and Kanoko Matsuyama.
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
