Equities across the Asia-Pacific region retreated for most of Tuesday, 29 September 2026, as the benchmark ten-year Treasury yield reached its highest point since the US military conflict involving Iran, while crude prices climbed amid contradictory reports surrounding Iran.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index declined 1.2 percent, with refinery and energy-related shares among the largest fallers, while South Korea's KOSPI dropped 0.6 percent, weighed down by large-cap technology stocks. Equities across the Asia-Pacific region edged lower following a subdued session on Wall Street.
The US ten-year Treasury yield reached approximately 5.24 percent at Monday's close, its highest finishing level since the American military strike against Iran on 28 February. Underwhelming Treasury auction results and expectations of further Federal Reserve rate increases drove the ten-year yield to a level not recorded since June 2007. Interest rates across the United States closed at their peak levels for that period.
Crude prices moved higher. Both an Iranian official and President Trump disputed accounts suggesting Iran had shown willingness to compromise on nuclear matters in exchange for sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets. Araqchi conveyed to Qatari mediators that proposals had been exchanged and that specific conditions relating to the Strait of Hormuz would need to be fulfilled. Tehran anticipated receiving a definitive response from Washington through Qatari intermediaries by Tuesday.
Gold prices edged up 0.5 percent on Tuesday, recovering from the previous session's decline, which had coincided with a rise in bond yields. According to State Street, gold prices could approach $4,000 amid interest rate concerns, with a rise to $5,000 remaining a possibility within the next six months.
Trading in the yen and other leading currencies remained largely stable. Finance Minister Katayama indicated that both nations had reached an agreement with US Treasury Secretary Bessent to strengthen bilateral coordination, and described a weakened yen as a concern. According to Katayama, the Takaichi administration pursues a non-reflationary approach, with borrowing costs left to market forces.
Singapore announced plans to direct S$1.45 billion, approximately US$1.1 billion, across five fund managers to bolster its domestic equities market.
Consumer expenditure across Australian households remained unchanged in August, falling short of a projected 0.4 percent gain, while the yearly growth rate dipped to 6.8 percent from a prior 7.0 percent. The Reserve Bank of Australia was set to announce its rate decision later on Tuesday at 0430 GMT, with markets broadly anticipating a rise to 4.60 percent.
China's central bank fixed the yuan reference rate at 6.7411 per dollar, above the projected level of 6.7177.
Federal Reserve Governor Cook indicated that artificial intelligence and oil prices could sustain upward pressure on inflation, with any future rate adjustments remaining contingent on incoming economic data.
Anthropic's IPO filing disclosed a net loss of approximately $42 billion for 2025, alongside a twelvefold revenue increase to nearly $4.6 billion and projected compute expenditure commitments of around $518 billion, according to media reports. Analysts placed the firm's potential worth at upwards of $2 trillion, with an initial public offering anticipated following the US midterm elections.
Nvidia expanded its share repurchase programme to $235 billion, an increase of $150 billion, as its stock price moved higher. Chartists placed a short-term overhead barrier in the $232–$234 price zone. According to media reports, OpenAI cancelled the planned GPT-6.1 Astra launch due to safety-related concerns.
