Asian shares were mixed Friday after Wall Street suffered losses, as a US Treasury Department plan to increase purchases of government debt offered only limited relief to financial markets.
US stock futures edged higher in early trading.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.2% to 66,080.25, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.9% to 6,914.09. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.7% to 25,888.36, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed at 3,903.81.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.3% to 9,053.90. Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.4%, while India’s Sensex slipped 0.1%.
The Treasury Department said Wednesday it would at least double planned purchases of longer-term government bonds. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that the buyback programme could be expanded further.
The announcement briefly pushed bond yields lower. Yields had risen amid concerns over high inflation, partly linked to the war in Iran, and growing US government debt. Higher yields can increase borrowing costs and put pressure on economic growth and stock prices.
However, analysts said the impact was likely to be short-lived. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note stood at around 4.71% early Friday, up from nearly 4.64% Thursday and back near its level before the Treasury announcement.
The 30-year Treasury yield also rose to about 5.26%, from 5.18% Thursday.
Bond yields in Asia also moved higher. Japan’s 10-year government bond yield rose to 2.88% from around 2.83% Thursday, after recently reaching levels not seen in about 30 years.
Rising bond yields have put pressure on stocks. On Thursday, the S&P 500 fell 0.9%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.3% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1%.
Oil prices edged lower early Friday despite increased US economic pressure on Iran and limited progress in reducing tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 0.2% to $93.64 a barrel. It was trading at around $72 before the war began. US benchmark crude fell 0.3% to $86.59 a barrel.
The US dollar slipped to 159.01 Japanese yen from 159.05 yen. The euro rose to $1.1694 from $1.1678.