Daily News 3rd Aug 26
Daily News
Asian Markets Mixed as Kospi Slides 4.4%; S&P 500 and Dow Close Higher to Cap Fourth Straight Winning Month; Gold Rallies Above $4,050 as Crude Tumbles Below $80 on Iran Talks Resumption
03 August 2026
Today in Brief
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed, with Japan's Nikkei 225 slipping 0.91% and the Topix declining over 1%, while South Korea's Kospi dropped 4.41% and the small-cap Kosdaq added 3.2%; Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was little changed. U.S. stocks closed Friday's session — the last trading day of July — markedly higher, with the Nasdaq Composite up 1% to 25,373.85, the S&P 500 adding 0.7% to 7,489.72, and the Dow gaining 276.97 points, or 0.53%, to 52,485.03 for its fourth straight winning month, even as the 30-year Treasury yield spiked to its highest level since 2007 and the 10-year topped 4.7%. Gold climbed above $4,050 an ounce on Monday, recovering prior-session losses after President Trump said Iran peace talks will resume, while crude oil dropped more than 5% to below $80 a barrel after surging over 20% in July, as Trump cancelled a planned strike on Iran at the urging of Gulf allies.
In other news: Trump said negotiations with Iran will begin Monday after he called off new strikes, describing a deal on the Hormuz Strait and Iran's denuclearization as "imminent"; Japan's finance ministry confirmed a coordinated yen-buying intervention with the U.S. Treasury after the currency hit 163.73 per dollar; OPEC+ approved a roughly 188,000 bpd September output increase, completing the rollback of 2023's voluntary supply cuts; India's central bank is expected to hold rates steady Wednesday despite inflation ticking above its 4% target; AstraZeneca is reportedly in talks with Bristol Myers Squibb on a $400 billion merger; BYD's Hong Kong shares rose to a two-month high after strong July sales; Alibaba shares jumped 6% on the launch of its Qwen 3.8-MAX AI model; and U.S. regulators opened a probe into 1.2 million Tesla vehicles over suspension failure risks.
Japan's Nikkei 225 falls 0.91% as Kospi drops 4.41% amid mixed Asia trading
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.91% while the Topix declined over 1%. The Kospi dropped 4.41%, while the small-cap Kosdaq added 3.2%. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was little changed. Oil prices fell after President Donald Trump said earlier Sunday he cancelled a planned attack on Iran. U.S. media reports on Friday said the president was gearing up for a new wave of strikes as hopes for a negotiated settlement to the war diminished and energy prices surged.
S&P 500 closes higher Friday as Amazon surges; Dow posts fourth straight winning month
The major averages were markedly higher Friday, the last trading session in July, as investors looked past rising bond yields and Amazon shares jumped. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1% to end at 25,373.85, while the S&P 500 added 0.7% to close at 7,489.72. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 276.97 points, or 0.53%, to 52,485.03. The 30-year Treasury bond yield spiked to its highest levels since 2007 this week. It was last up about 4 basis points on the day at 5.25%. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield topped 4.7% on the day, its highest level since January 2025.
Gold climbed above $4,050 an ounce on Monday, recovering losses from the previous session
Gold climbed above $4,050 an ounce on Monday, recovering losses from the previous session after President Donald Trump said peace talks with Iran will resume today, sending oil prices lower and easing concerns over inflation and the interest rate outlook. Trump said key Middle Eastern allies, including Saudi Arabia, urged him to suspend planned strikes and pursue a diplomatic agreement instead, while reiterating his call for the swift reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Investors also turned their focus to a packed week of US labour market data, highlighted by Friday's closely watched monthly jobs report. Last week, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, although three officials dissented, warning that delaying action for too long could eventually require more aggressive policy tightening.
Crude oil dropped more than 5% to below $80 per barrel on Monday after surging over 20% in July
Crude oil dropped more than 5% to below $80 per barrel on Monday after surging over 20% in July, as President Donald Trump announced that peace talks with Iran will resume today after he cancelled a planned military strike against the Islamic Republic. Trump said key Middle Eastern allies, including Saudi Arabia, urged him to suspend the attacks and prioritize negotiations, while reiterating his call for the swift reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Last month, oil prices climbed about 23% after renewed hostilities between the US and Iran shattered the interim peace agreement, with supply disruptions extending from the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea. Meanwhile, major OPEC+ producers approved another modest increase in production quotas, completing the planned restoration of output cuts introduced in 2023 and leaving room to boost supplies further once the Middle East conflict comes to an end.
Trump says Iran talks to resume Monday after calling off planned strikes
U.S. President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran will begin Monday after he held off on new strikes against the Middle Eastern country, once again raising hopes for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict that has upended energy supplies. "Now what we're doing is we're talking to them in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon," Trump told reporters Sunday aboard Air Force One, without disclosing the venue or participants. He said he had called off the strikes at the request of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Iran, and described a deal covering the Hormuz Strait and Iran's denuclearization as "imminent." Trump said on Saturday the planned operation would have been the biggest since World War II, while adding that the U.S. was ready to attack Iran.
U.S., Japan confirm coordinated yen intervention, signal readiness for more
Japan's finance ministry said Monday it had conducted a coordinated yen-buying operation with the U.S. Treasury on Friday, marking a rare joint move by the two allies to stem sharp swings in the Japanese currency. Tokyo signalled it was prepared to act again if needed, saying it "will not hesitate to conduct further coordinated interventions in the future" and remains in close communication with the U.S. Treasury. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama also stressed that Japan "remains attentive and in close communication with counterparts at U.S. Treasury." The Japanese yen had hit 163.73 against the greenback on Thursday last week, and strengthened to 157.57 on Friday. It was trading at 157.70 per dollar on Monday.
OPEC+ agrees September oil hike, completing rollback of voluntary cuts
OPEC+ approved an oil production quota increase on Sunday of around 188,000 barrels per day from September, the producer group said, in a move that completes the unwinding of a layer of voluntary output cuts. Due to export disruptions from the Gulf, Russia and Kazakhstan caused by the Iran and Ukraine wars, successive monthly OPEC+ hikes over most of this year have remained largely on paper with little impact on the market. The September increase agreed by core OPEC+ members — Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman — finishes the phased rollback of a 1.65 million bpd supply cut originally agreed in 2023, when the group still included the United Arab Emirates, which left OPEC in May.
India central bank to stay on hold even as peers pivot to rate hikes
India's central bank is expected to keep interest rates unchanged this week, diverging from many of its global peers as inflation remains modest despite higher global oil prices while steps to support the rupee drive strong inflows. Central banks in Europe, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and South Africa have raised benchmark borrowing costs since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began five months ago. The Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan, though, have kept rates on hold. Although it may adopt a more hawkish tone, the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee will hold rates steady on Wednesday, 68 of the 72 economists in a Reuters poll predicted. While retail inflation accelerated to 4.38% in June, above the RBI's 4% target for the first time in 17 months, it remained within the 2%-6% tolerance band the central bank uses to allow room to deal with short-term supply shocks.
AstraZeneca in talks with Bristol Myers Squibb on $400 billion megadeal, FT reports
U.K. pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is considering a deal to merge with its U.S. competitor Bristol Myers Squibb, in a deal that would value the joint company at roughly $400 billion, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. It's still unclear whether the deal will come together, but the companies have been discussing a merger over the last few months, sources told the FT. The merger would be one of the largest in history. AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment. Last year, AstraZeneca unveiled plans for a direct U.S. listing, aiming to capitalize on stronger valuations in the U.S. market while remaining listed in London.
BYD rallies as strong July sales highlight widening gap with Chinese EV peers
Shares of BYD Co Ltd-H (HK:1211) rose on Monday after the Chinese electric vehicle giant reported stronger July sales, extending its recovery as robust overseas demand continued to offset a softer domestic market. BYD's Hong Kong-listed shares gained 0.8% to HK$94.90, their highest level since June 3, outperforming the Hang Seng Index. Meanwhile, XPeng dropped 3%, while Li Auto and Nio declined 1.8% and 1.4%, respectively. BYD said it sold 419,211 new energy vehicles worldwide in July, up 21.8% from a year earlier and marking a third consecutive month of year-on-year sales growth. Overseas passenger vehicle and pickup sales surged 124.3% to a record 179,841 units, underscoring the company's growing reliance on international markets as competition intensifies at home. Elsewhere, July deliveries painted a more mixed picture for China's EV sector.
Alibaba unveils Qwen 3.8-MAX AI model; shares jump
Alibaba Group (HK:9988) shares rose on Monday after the technology giant unveiled Qwen 3.8-MAX, the latest version of its flagship artificial intelligence model, as competition intensifies among Chinese firms racing to develop more powerful generative AI systems. Hong Kong-listed Alibaba shares advanced 6% to HK$124.00 by 02:58 GMT. Alibaba said that Qwen 3.8-MAX delivers improvements in reasoning, coding, agent capabilities and multimodal understanding, while offering lower inference costs than previous versions. The new model, built on the Qwen 3.5 architecture, features 2.4 trillion parameters with 95 billion active parameters and will become the first Max-class Qwen model whose weights will be released as open-source next week, Alibaba said.
US auto safety regulator probes 1.2 million Tesla vehicles over suspension failure risks
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday it has opened a preliminary investigation into about 1.2 million Tesla vehicles over reports of suspension failures that could cause a loss of vehicle steering control. The regulator said its Office of Defects Investigation has received 156 complaints, alleging the front lower lateral link detached in certain 2018-2020 Model 3 and 2021-2023 Model Y vehicles. NHTSA said the suspension failure could leave the vehicle undriveable and require it to be towed. Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. NHTSA said most complaints indicated there was no advance warning before the failure, though some owners reported noises beforehand. The agency said it was not aware of any crashes, injuries or fatalities related to the reported defect.
