The Exchange Centre, which houses the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. The S&P/ASX 200 index extended gains to 0.3% after the central bank cut the key cash rate by 25 basis points, a move widely expected by economists and markets. Photographer: Lisa Maree Williams/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Asia-Pacific markets rose Thursday following a tech rally overnight on Wall Street that lifted the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, even as growing fears around the economy weighed on equities.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.57% in early trading, while the Topix index increased 0.41%.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark climbed 0.67% after the country’s household spending in July rose 0.5% month on month, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. This compares to a gain of 0.3% in June. On a yearly basis, household spending growth rose 5.1% in July, the fastest pace since November 2023.
The growth was boosted by demand for the health, transport, miscellaneous goods and services sectors.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi index traded 0.45% higher and the small-cap Kosdaq added 0.84%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.16% while mainland’s CSI 300 was flat.
Global bond markets will continue to be in focus with long-dated borrowing costs around the world under pressure. The U.S. 30-year Treasury yield nudged above 5% on Wednesday morning for the first time since July after a court ruled that most of the Trump administration’s tariffs are illegal, raising questions over the future of tariff revenues.
Japan’s 30-year bond yield was at a record high on Wednesday, with a 100 basis point rise this year driven by high inflation, low real rates and political uncertainty.
Overnight stateside, the three major averages closed mixed. The S&P 500 rose Wednesday, boosted by tech shares after a federal court decision in an Alphabet antitrust case fueled optimism that the tech giants would be able to weather regulatory threats.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.03% to end the day at 21,497.73, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.51% to finish at 6,448.26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged, falling 24.58 points, or 0.05%, to settle at 45,271.23.
— CNBC’s Nur Hikmah Md Ali, Jenni Reid, Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
