Published Tue, Aug 25, 2026 · 07:37 AM
ASIAN stocks were set for broad declines on Tuesday (Aug 25) after a tech-led sell-off on Wall Street outweighed a drop in oil, as traders weighed US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s plan to isolate Iran from the global economy.
Equity-index futures for Japan and South Korea pointed lower, while those for Australia saw a slight gain.
US contracts were little changed after semiconductor giants dragged the Nasdaq 100 Index down nearly 1 per cent. Nvidia fell for a seventh straight session ahead of its earnings on Wednesday, its longest losing streak since 2022.
US oil was steady in early trading, holding Monday’s loss after Bessent threatened economic penalties against countries doing business with Iran as part of a campaign aimed at isolating Teheran and ending the war.
Lower energy prices helped lift US Treasuries, with the 10-year yield falling four basis points to 4.7 per cent. Elsewhere, the US dollar posted its biggest gain since in two weeks, while gold hovered around US$4,650 an ounce.
Investors are weighing mounting geopolitical risks against a packed week of economic data and corporate earnings, with the outlook for technology shares emerging as a key test for broader risk sentiment. Nvidia’s results will be closely watched for signs that the recent weakness in chipmakers has further to run.
“Details about US economic sanctions on Iran, the Treasury’s attempts to lower long-term yields, and economic data may shape much of the sentiment backdrop,” said Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley. “But Nvidia and other tech earnings are positioned to be a major weight on the market’s momentum scale.”
Investors are also looking to US Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh for clarity on how the US central bank will respond to stubborn inflation when he speaks on Friday at the annual Jackson Hole gathering in Wyoming.
For the first time as leader of the world’s top central bank, Warsh will offer keynote remarks at the Kansas City Fed’s annual Economic Policy Symposium. With US Treasury yields still elevated by sticky inflation and fiscal deficit concerns, he is under pressure to act more like his predecessors and give clearer guidance of how the Fed might react over the remainder of the year.
Earlier, US Treasuries were also supported by a CNBC report that the US Treasury Department could tap its cash pile to fund buybacks of higher-yielding older securities in an effort to curb borrowing costs.
Bessent, however, stopped short of signalling any changes to US debt management in a speech on Monday following the report.
“We haven’t bought a single bond yet,” Bessent said when asked in a press conference whether he is going to soon increase the buybacks.
Nvidia shares fell 2.9 per cent ahead of earnings on Wednesday after the market close. The company had notified customers of AI-related price increases on systems shipped early in 2027, including those featuring its flagship Vera Rubin and Grace Blackwell chips, according to people familiar with the process.
Nvidia’s results have become a key gauge of the AI trade, which has come under pressure in recent months as investors scrutinise whether heavy spending on the technology will translate into profits.
“This is a key week for markets with Nvidia’s earnings and the annual Jackson Hole speech, which normally wouldn’t have a link, but Nvidia needs to impress in order to keep one leg of the stock market stable, and Warsh needs to provide clarity on interest rates in order to keep the other leg of the stock market stable,” said Richard Reyle, chief investment officer at Questar Capital Partners. BLOOMBERG
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