Asia report: Stocks muted as bond market frenzy eases

(Sharecast News) - Stock markets across Asia were muted on Thursday, with most regional indices rangebound as investors took a breather following a volatile week, which saw oil prices jump and global bond yields hit multi-decade highs.

"A measure of calm in government bond markets and a slight moderation in oil prices helped steady markets in Asia overnight and saw the FTSE 100 start out flat on Thursday morning," says AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

Bond yields pulled back slightly across the UK, Germany and Japan on Thursday, while Brent crude fell 0.7% to $94.91 a barrel.

However, Mould added: "The threat of further escalation in the Middle East continues to hum a discordant tune in the background though amid continuing nervousness about the implications for inflation and the cost of borrowing."

The Nikkei 225 and Hang Seng fell 0.2% and 0.4% respectively, while the Shanghai Composite, Sensex and STI finished flat, while the KOSPI gained 0.3%.

In economic data, the RatingDog China services PMI rose to 51.4 in August from the prior reading of 50.4, which was the lowest since September 2024. This was comfortably ahead of the 50.6 expected by analysts, but still the second-lowest reading in over a year.

In equity movements, Japanese financial stocks were among the best performers, with Mitsubishi Corporation and Nomura Holdings rising strongly as trading houses rallied on the back of falling Japanese bond yields.

SoftBank was also higher as tech stocks rebounded following recent losses, helped by strong gains from US counterparts overnight.

However, South Korean chip groups SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics were under pressure, weighing on the KOSPI.