Asian shares track Wall Street higher, Treasury yields near multi-decade highs

SYDNEY: Asian stocks rose on Tuesday after a tech-fuelled rally lifted the Nasdaq to a record close, with a retreat in oil prices offering further support even as longer-dated Treasury yields hovered near multi-decade highs.

The euro languished near 17-month lows after briefly touching US$1.116 overnight, pressured by mounting fiscal concerns in France. Investors dumped French government bonds after an underwhelming budget, while political uncertainty deepened after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called a snap election.

Brent crude was little changed at US$100 a barrel after losing 1.9 per cent overnight as exports from the Middle East increased and the Group of Seven nations pledged to boost supplies.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei gained 0.7 per cent. European stock futures climbed 0.5 per cent.

Nasdaq futures edged up 0.2 per cent and S&P 500 futures rose 0.1 per cent. The Nasdaq notched up a record close overnight, buoyed by softer-than-expected jobs data that dampened expectations for a rate hike from the Federal Reserve this month.

AI heavyweight Nvidia climbed 2.1 per cent, reaching a record-high close and boosting its market value to US$5.76 trillion.

"The rally in the market was tech led once again, with the marginal easing of interest rate uncertainty along with a slight moderation in geopolitical risk allowing market participants to focus on the extraordinary earnings growth being delivered by AI names," said Kyle Rodda, a senior analyst at Capital.com.

The third-quarter earnings season kicks off next week. Goldman Sachs estimated consensus forecasts point to 27 per cent growth in S&P 500 earnings last quarter, with more than half that growth from companies benefiting from AI infrastructure spending.

Latin American markets also climbed, led by a rally in Brazilian stocks and the real currency, after right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro outperformed poll predictions in the first round of the presidential election and advanced to a runoff against leftist incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

BOND ROUT PERSISTS

The relentless climb in Treasury yields continued even as markets scaled back bets for an interest rate rise this month from the Federal Reserve to just 23 per cent from 71 per cent a week ago, after top policymakers stressed the need for more data before tightening again.

US 10- and 30-year Treasury yields hit fresh 24-year highs overnight, capping a steady climb since mid-August driven by inflation and debt concerns. An ISM survey showed a measure of prices paid by services businesses for inputs jumped to the highest level in more than four years.

The 10-year Treasury yield was steady in Asia at 5.3089 per cent, after climbing 3 basis points overnight to hit 5.3493 per cent, the highest since 2002, while 30-year yields held at 5.6622 per cent, having briefly reached 5.7029 per cent overnight.

The selloff in French bonds calmed a little, with the premium investors demand to hold French 10-year bonds over safer German debt narrowing to 137 basis points on Monday.

The euro nursed losses at US$1.1215, after falling as much as 0.8 per cent to US$1.116 overnight, its weakest since May 2025. It traded at 177 yen, having been down for seven straight sessions, around the lowest since November last year.

"Deep divisions in France's parliament raises the risk that the proposed fiscal consolidation is diluted or that the government faces a no-confidence vote," said Joseph Capurso, head of international economics at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

"EUR/USD will likely test support at 1.1109."

That kept the US dollar firm, with the dollar index at 102.2 after a weekly rise of 0.9 per cent.