Asia Market Wrap 3 September: The Yen Jumps and Brent Tops 97 Dollars as 6 of 10 Markets Rise
Asian equities steadied on Thursday after Wednesday’s rout, with 6 of the 10 benchmarks in this wrap closing higher and the gap between the day’s best and worst boards narrowing to 1.17 percentage points from 4.58 a day earlier, on our calculation. The session’s real moves were elsewhere: dollar/yen fell 1.43 percent to 156.43 and Brent crude rose 1.62 percent to 97.18 dollars a barrel at the 10:23 GMT capture, both against the backdrop of a widening confrontation in the Gulf.
The yen and oil carry the session
Kuwait’s army said on Thursday it was confronting hostile missile and drone attacks from Iran and that explosions heard in the country were its air defenses intercepting targets, per CNBC. The attacks followed United States strikes on Iran on Tuesday and Iranian strikes on Jordan and Bahrain on Wednesday. President Donald Trump told reporters the renewed hostilities would not last “too long.”
Markets priced the escalation through gold and the barrel rather than through Asian equities. Gold rose 1.25 percent to 4,470.00 dollars an ounce and West Texas Intermediate gained 1.73 percent to 92.58 dollars, while the dollar index eased 0.36 percent to 99.239. The 1.43 percent fall in dollar/yen was the sharpest currency move on the board, and it came against a dollar that was itself slightly weaker.
Tokyo splits as the broad market rises
The Topix added 0.50 percent to 4,102.04 while the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.17 percent to 64,214.48, a 0.67 percentage point divergence between Japan’s broad board and its heavyweight index, on our calculation. A stronger yen weighs hardest on the exporters and the large capitalisation names that dominate the Nikkei, on our reading, and it landed in a bond market already repricing: Japan’s 10 year government yield rose above 3 percent this week and stood near 2.97 percent on Thursday, part of a global move that has taken German yields to their highest since 2011 and United States 10 year yields to their highest since November 2023, per CNBC. The Nikkei’s two day decline now stands at 3.02 percent against our published closes, on our calculation.
Korea steadies, Taiwan extends its slide
The Kospi closed 0.26 percent higher at 6,579.48 after Wednesday’s 3.99 percent drop. In points, Thursday’s 16.76 point rise recovers about 6 percent of the roughly 273 points lost on Wednesday, on our calculation, which is a pause rather than a recovery. The Taiex went the other way, falling 0.67 percent to 45,857.66 at the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s own close, the only market on the board down more than half a percent for a second straight session; its two day fall is 2.33 percent, on our calculation. China’s boards barely moved, with Shanghai up 0.02 percent and Shenzhen up 0.10 percent, and the Hang Seng fell 0.39 percent.
Europe closed lower for a second day on Wednesday and Wall Street snapped a three day slide, per our Europe and US Market Wraps of 2 September.
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Topix (Japan) | 4,102.04 | +0.50% |
| S&P/ASX 200 (Australia) | 9,020.10 | +0.46% |
| Kospi (South Korea) | 6,579.48 | +0.26% |
| Shenzhen Component (China) | 13,625.12 | +0.10% |
| Straits Times (Singapore) | 5,747.71 | +0.06% |
| Shanghai Composite (China) | 3,942.09 | +0.02% |
| Nifty 50 (India) | 23,873.45 | -0.17% |
| Nikkei 225 (Japan) | 64,214.48 | -0.17% |
| Hang Seng (Hong Kong) | 25,213.31 | -0.39% |
| Taiex (Taiwan) | 45,857.66 | -0.67% |
Closing levels for the 3 September 2026 session, captured at 10:23 GMT after every market on the board had closed. Ranked by change. The Taiex is the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s own published close; the remaining levels are from CNBC. All 10 previous closes reconcile exactly against our Asia Market Wrap of 2 September.
| Instrument | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| WTI crude, NYMEX (Oct’26) | $92.58 | +1.73% |
| Brent crude, ICE (Nov’26) | $97.18 | +1.62% |
| Gold, COMEX (Dec’26) | $4,470.00 | +1.25% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 99.239 | -0.36% |
| Dollar/yen | 156.43 | -1.43% |
Quotes captured at 10:23 GMT on 3 September 2026, ranked by change. These are intraday levels taken before the day’s settlement windows; the futures changes are measured against the prior session’s settlement, so they are settlement to intraday. Contract months are those quoted at capture.
Why it matters: A 1.17 point spread across 10 boards, a day after a 4.58 point spread and a 3.99 percent single market fall, says Wednesday’s selling did not find a second wind in Asia. What did move were the prices that transmit the Gulf confrontation into portfolios across the region: crude above 97 dollars and gold above 4,400, alongside a sharply stronger yen and underperformance in the Nikkei relative to the Topix. For Asia the exposure now runs through energy imports and the bond market rather than through equities: in Japan, a 10 year yield that reached 3 percent this week raises the cost of financing a public debt above 200 percent of output, per the same reporting.
Outlook: The next tests arrive in order: the Gulf session’s closes land later today with the escalation still running, the United States August employment report is published on Friday, per our US Market Wrap of 2 September, and the oil price will show how much supply risk the market is pricing. On the board itself, the Kospi has recovered only about 6 percent of Wednesday’s point loss. Whether Thursday’s rebound extends or the decline resumes will help show whether Wednesday’s rout was primarily a positioning shock or the start of a more persistent repricing, on our reading.
Sources: CNBC, Taiwan Stock Exchange, The Edge.
