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Informist, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Asian mkts open up amid easing bond yields; Kospi leads gains

 

MUMBAI--0815 IST--Most Asian indices opened higher during early trade on Thursday tracking gains in their US counterparts amid easing yields on global government bonds after the US treasury department announced it would increase its repurchases of long-term debt. South Korea's Kospi outperformed its peers by a wide margin during early trade. Among other gainers, Japan's Nikkei 225 and broader-market Topix rose nearly 1?ch, as did Hong Kong's Hang Seng.

 

Index heavyweights Samsung Electronics rose 8% and SK Hynix rose nearly 13% during early trade, driving the gains in the benchmark Kospi. SK Hynix announced it would buy back nearly $28 billion of its shares in a bid to calm investors concerned about the sustainability of artificial intelligence focused spending.

 

In Japan, data released by the country's finance ministry showed exports rose over 23% on year in July, outperforming the expectation of a 19.9% jump, according to economists polled by Reuters. Both the Nikkei 225 and Topix were up nearly 1% during early trade. Elsewhere, the People's Bank of China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged for a 15th consecutive month in August. Policymakers held off on further monetary easing despite signs of weakness in domestic demand.

 

The following are the levels of key indices in the region at 0815 IST: 

 

Index	Level	Change in %
Nikkei 225 Day	65982.49	1.0
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	4048.72	0.9
S&P/ASX 200 Index	9077.1	0.3
KOSPI Index	6848.49	5.8
Hang Seng Index	25665.75	0.7
CSI 300 Index	4596.19	0.2
FTSE Singapore Strait Times	5668.63	(-)0.5

 

(Shruti Nair)

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Equity Alert: US indices end higher; US Treasury announces increased buyback

 

MUMBAI--0713 IST--All three major US indices ended higher on Wednesday for the first time this week after the US Department of the Treasury announced increased buybacks of long-term debt over the coming few months. Following this, bond yields, which had risen sharply earlier, eased. All three major indices ended 0.2% higher.

 

On Wednesday, the US Treasury Department said it would at least double the size of its government debt repurchases. "This increase in buyback operation sizes reflects Treasury's desire to provide greater liquidity support in longer-dated nominal sectors where there is consistent strong sponsorship from market participants," according to the department's statement. Subsequently, the yield on the 30-year US Treasury bond, which had touched a new 19-year high on the previous day, declined more than 10 basis points to 5.184%, CNBC reported. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped more than 6 basis points to 4.637%.

 

Among the top performers in Wednesday's session, Moderna shares nearly tripled, recording their biggest-ever one-day gain, according to a CNBC report. The gains followed news that an experimental skin cancer vaccine developed with Merck showed promising results in a late-stage trial. Merck shares ended nearly 13% higher, supporting the Dow Jones Industrial Average index. Shares of semiconductor company Marvell Technology ended nearly 10% higher after it announced a deal with Google under which Alphabet, Google's parent, could purchase up to $12.2 billion worth of shares in the chipmaker.

 

However, stocks of other technology companies slid after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI had disclosed disappointing June-quarter results to its investors. The company's revenues grew 18% sequentially to $6.7 billion, but its losses deepened, the newspaper reported, citing sources. Shares of semiconductor companies Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices ended about 4% lower.

 

Following are the closing levels of major US indices Wednesday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
Dow Jones Industrial Average	53463.05	0.2
NASDAQ Composite	26331.09	0.2
S&P 500	7707.98	0.2

(Shruti Nair)

 

US$1 = INR 95.75

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury 

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

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