Asian shares gain, with South Korea’s Kospi up 6%, after the US Treasury expands its debt buybacks

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares advanced Thursday, tracking Wall Street gains, and South Korea’s benchmark Kospi jumped more than 6%.

U.S. futures edged higher after the U.S. Treasury Department said it would at least double the size of planned purchases of longer-term government debt.

That could ease pressure on share prices emanating from the bond market since the purchases would push bond prices higher, helping to bring down yields.

The Kospi surged 6.1% to 6,858.91 after sinking 5.8% on Wednesday on renewed selling of shares related to artificial intelligence.

Samsung Electronics jumped 9.7%, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix surged 14.1% after the company announced a significant share buyback plan.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.3% to 66,178.26, reversing declines earlier in the week. Japan reported it logged a trade deficit for a third straight month in July, as both imports and exports hit record highs.

Shares of OpenAI investor SoftBank Group, a Japanese multinational investment holding firm, added 3.8%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.1% to 25,786.32, while the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.3% to 3,905.23.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.3% to 9,066.40.

Taiwan’s Taiex was nearly unchanged and India’s Sensex climbed 0.7%.

Yields on U.S. government bonds fell after the U.S. Treasury Department’s announcement on its expanded plans in government debt buybacks. Bond yields fall when bond prices rise in an inverse relation.

The move appeared to mollify investors worried over rising yields. On Wednesday, the benchmark S&P 500 climbed 0.2% for its first gain in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite also rose 0.2%.

Yields have risen in recent months over growing concerns about inflation stemming from the monthslong war in Iran and ballooning government debt, among other factors.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury fell to nearly 4.64% from 4.71% on Tuesday, although it’s still well above its levels from before the start of the war in Iran. The 30-year Treasury yield fell to 5.18% on Thursday, from 5.28% on Tuesday.

In Asia, bond yields also eased after the U.S. Treasury’s announcement. Japan’s 10-year government bond yield fell to around 2.83% from more than 2.89% on Wednesday. It had been trading near 30-year highs.

Oil prices rose slightly early Thursday as there was little progress made in U.S.-Iran negotiations over the war. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 0.3% to $91.90 a barrel. It was trading at roughly $72 per barrel before the war.

U.S. benchmark crude edged 0.2% higher to $84.57 a barrel.

The U.S. dollar rose to 158.60 Japanese yen from 158.16 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1676, down from $1.1677.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.