Asian markets extend rally as traders assess US Treasuries pledge

HONG KONG - Asian stocks edged higher on Aug 21 as investors assessed the US Treasury’s move to push down long-term bond yields, while analysts warned that alone would not be enough to keep borrowing costs from spiking.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s pledge that he had more tools to provide support did little to comfort US markets as sceptical Wall Street investors resumed their selling amid concerns over elevated inflation and government borrowing, among other things.

The lack of progress on reopening the Strait of Hormuz added to unease on trading floors, with oil prices rising over the past two weeks as the US and Iran remain deadlocked.

The US Treasury provided a much-needed boost to markets on Aug 19 when it said it planned to “at least double” its sovereign bond buybacks, a day after the 30-year yield surged to levels last seen in 2007 just before the global financial crisis.

That sent long-term rates plunging but they rebounded on Aug 20, with Mark Malek, of Muriel Siebert & Co, calling it “a housekeeping move destined to be short-term, at best”.

Bessent told news outlet CNBC on Aug 20 that his department had a “big toolkit” to address a rise in yields that it views as unmoored to financial conditions. Such measures could include increased bond purchases beyond the scale announced the day before.

“We think that this is a thinly traded area of the market, that we’re in August, and there’s been a lot of corporate issuance that’s influenced the market,” Bessent said.

“We believe that the yields don’t reflect the underlying fundamentals.”

He added that inflation – which has been running above the Federal Reserve’s 2 per cent target for more than five years – would ease once the US gets “on the other side” of the Iran war and oil prices retreat.

The increase in yields weighed on Wall Street, where all three main indexes fell as tech firms – which rely on debt to fund their huge investments – dropped.

‘Excess in supply’

However, Asia enjoyed another healthy day, with tech-rich Seoul helped higher by a rally in chipmakers.

Samsung jumped 3.9 per cent as reports said it was planning a shareholder return worth as much as US$79 billion (S$100 billion), while SK Hynix added more than 2 per cent a day after rocketing more than 12 per cent in reaction to its announcement of a US$29 billion stock buyback.

Hong Kong, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta also rose, though Tokyo and Sydney dipped. Shanghai was flat.

London, Paris and Frankfurt were all higher.

On currency markets, the yen rose against the dollar after Japanese inflation picked up in July on higher oil prices caused by the Middle East crisis, giving the country’s central bank room to hike interest rates in September.

Observers have said the spike in yields is down to a number of things.

Michael Hewson at MCH Market Insights wrote: “We already knew at the start of this year that governments would be looking to raise a lot of money due to increased spending commitments on both sides of the Atlantic, which would mean that buyers would likely be spoiled for choice.

“With the boom in AI infrastructure spending, we’ve discovered yet another source of supply in the form of corporate bonds with the likes of Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and the like looking to raise up to US$500 billion of their own.

“This excess in supply is also likely an additional factor serving to weigh on global sovereign debt markets with some investors preferring to invest in Big Tech as opposed to indebted sovereigns.”

Others pointed to US Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s refusal to provide markets with forward guidance on the bank’s plans as fuelling uncertainty on trading floors.

Traders will be closely watching his speech at next week’s annual meeting of central bankers, economists and finance chiefs in Jackson Hole, hoping for some clarification on monetary policy. AFP