Asian Stocks Rise, Bond Yields Fall as Oil Prices Ease

By Amanda Lee

Asian equities rose Friday morning and regional bond yields fell as easing oil prices helped temper inflation concerns.

Crude future declined on hopes that Saudi Arabia could quickly restore some supply. Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's signal that this week's interest-rate increase could be the start of a broader effort to curb inflation also helped ease longer-term price concerns.

Investors are also awaiting the Bank of Japan's policy decision, with a 25-basis-point rate increase widely expected.

"The bigger question is how Gov. Ueda frames the path beyond September, particularly whether the BOJ signals a faster pace of normalization amid still-elevated inflation," OCBC Group Research's FX strategist Christopher Wong said in a note.

Stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region were broadly higher. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average edged 0.3% higher and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.8%.

South Korea's Kospi rose 2.0%, Taiwan's Taiex advanced 1.0%, Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.8% and Malaysia's FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up 0.1%.

Asian government-bond yields also declined. The yield on Japan's 10-year government bonds fell 4.5 basis points to 2.945%, while its Australian counterpart dropped 4.8 basis points to 5.263%. The yield on New Zealand's 10-year sovereign securities declined 6.3 basis points to 4.939%. Bond yields move inversely to prices.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures declined 0.6% to $101.34 per barrel, while front-month Brent crude oil futures fell 0.7% to $104.06 a barrel, according to ICE data.

Saudi Arabia could soon restore some flows through its damaged East-West pipeline. Oil is also continuing to through the Strait of Hormuz via ship-to-ship loadings and dark transits.

The kingdom shut down the East-West pipeline after a drone attack launched from Iraq. Saudi Arabia said it expects to return about half of the capacity of its damaged East-West pipeline within days, ANZ Research analysts said in a note.

The pullback in oil prices also reflected some profit-taking after two weeks of gains, they added.

Write to Amanda Lee at amanda.lee@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 17, 2026 22:51 ET (02:51 GMT)