Asian shares decline after stocks slip on Wall Street, while global bond
sell-off intensifies
[September 02, 2026] By
CHAN HO-HIM
HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares tumbled Wednesday after stocks slipped on
Wall Street and as a bond market sell-off deepened globally.
U.S. futures edged higher.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 dropped 2.9% to 64,325.64. Market heavyweight
SoftBank Group, the Japanese multinational investment holding firm which
invests in OpenAI, fell 6.4%.
South Korea’s Kospi lost 4% to 6,562.72. Samsung Electronics declined
4%, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix fell 4.7%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.3% to 25,250.77. Shein, the fast-fashion
online retail giant that made its Hong Kong listing debut on Tuesday,
fell 3.3%. The Shanghai Composite index slid 1% to 3,941.39.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1% to 8,978.40.
Taiwan’s Taiex dropped 1.7%, and India's Sensex fell 0.7%.
On Tuesday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 slipped 0.7%. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average dropped 0.8%, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq
composite fell 1%. The U.S. on Tuesday reported job openings grew
slightly in July.
Among some of the biggest decliners, Nvidia dropped 1.5%, Amazon gave up
1.9% and Advanced Micro Devices, or AMD, fell 2.4%.
Oil prices advanced after the U.S. launched another round of military
strikes on Iran and Iran responded by firing missiles and drones across
the region.
Since the Iran war passed its six-month mark, escalating tensions
between the U.S. and Iran have worsened worries over energy supplies.
The Strait of Hormuz, an important waterway for oil transport, remains
largely closed.
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Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the
Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 2,
2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
 Brent crude, the international
standard, was trading at $95.02 per barrel, up 0.4%. It was trading
at around $72 a barrel before the start of the war in late February.
Benchmark U.S. crude was 0.1% higher at $90.31 a barrel.
Elevated inflation and growing U.S. government debt are helping
drive bond yields higher as investors demand increased returns due
to increased risks. Bond prices fall when bond yields rise, in an
inverse relationship.
The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury rose to around 4.80% from
4.75% on Monday. It was as low as 4.20% in January.
The 2-year Treasury yield, which tracks Federal Reserve interest
rate moves more closely, was at about 4.39%, up from 4.34% on
Monday. That’s compared to roughly 3.50% back in early 2026.
Japan’s 10-year government bond yield was at around 3.02% early
Wednesday, its highest since 1996, up from around 2.94% on Monday.
The U.S. dollar fell to 159.74 Japanese yen from 160.17 yen. The
euro was trading at $1.1573, down from $1.1593.
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