Asia Market Wrap 24 September: Nikkei Rises Alone as Japan’s 10 Year Yield Hits a 30 Year High

By The Edge Research Team

Tokyo came back from its three day holiday with the Nikkei 225 the board’s only riser. The index closed 0.76 percent higher at 65,513.99, per the network’s written closing line, on the day the Bank of Japan’s new rates took effect, while the broader Topix slipped 0.39 percent and every other market we track fell, Shenzhen 2.34 percent the deepest and India’s Nifty 50 down 1.64 percent at 23,063.10 on the exchange’s own closing board. Seoul carried no session, shut for the first of two Chuseok days, and the barrel kept climbing underneath the region: Brent traded 1.96 percent above its written settlement at 105.10 dollars a barrel at our 10:20 GMT capture, with Japan’s 10 year government bond yield at its highest since August 1996, per the network.

Tokyo pays up for its holiday as the yield story goes global

The reopening session had two stories and they pulled in opposite directions. SoftBank Group jumped more than 7 percent as Japanese markets opened for the first time this week, per the network, after announcing an 11.1 billion dollar bond issuance, 10 billion dollars in dollar denominated senior notes and 1 billion euros, with proceeds funding a 10 billion dollar payment for the third and final tranche of its 30 billion dollar follow on investment in OpenAI, expected to close 1 October; the stock gave most of it back to close 0.59 percent higher at 6,352 yen as the feed carries the close, and the Nikkei finished the day 0.76 percent higher while the Topix, measured like the Nikkei against Japan’s final cash session before the break, slipped 0.39 percent. The bond market told the other story: the benchmark 10 year Japanese government bond yield rose 8 basis points to 3.062 percent, its highest since August 1996, with the 30 year up nearly 8 basis points to 4.147, tracking the surge in United States Treasury yields, with concerns about inflationary pressures exacerbated by a weaker yen, per the network, which carried UOB writing that the sell off was driven by rebounding oil prices, stronger than expected United States PMI data and weak demand at a 70 billion dollar 5 year Treasury auction. The dollar bought 158.75 yen at our capture, 0.29 percent higher on the day. Around the region the red was broad but shallow at the top and deep at the bottom: Taipei and Hong Kong slipped 0.28 and 0.29 percent, Sydney lost 0.72 percent, Shanghai 1.22, and Mumbai’s 1.64 percent fall was its deepest of the week, while Seoul sat out with the Korea Exchange shut for Chuseok on Thursday and Friday, back Monday.

A truce extension in Washington and a barrel that will not stop

The diplomatic tape moved while Asia slept. The United States and China have extended their trade truce to keep tariffs lower for longer and rare earths flowing, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Fox News as President Xi Jinping landed in Washington for a state visit through Friday, per the network, with the one year truce agreed last October, due to expire in November, now running to 10 January. The rates channel stayed hot into the Asian morning: New York Fed President John Williams, speaking at the London Macro Policy Forum per Reuters as carried by the network, called investor belief in another hike before year end a reasonable way of thinking about it, adding that policymakers will collect the data and do what they did between July and September. And the barrel round tripped again: oil fell overnight as traders assessed a Reuters report, as carried, that Asia is on track to import 23.96 million barrels of crude a day in September, its highest volume since the start of the war and up from 23.38 million in August, with Brent near 102.54 in the Asian morning; by the European open the network had oil ticking higher with energy shares bucking a lower market, and at our 10:20 GMT capture Brent traded at 105.10 dollars, 1.96 percent above Wednesday’s written settlement, with WTI 1.45 percent higher at 93.50 on the November contract.

Top gainers

Top gainers, closes of Thursday 24 September 2026 from the vendor’s feed at our 10:20 GMT capture, confirmed by a second pull at 10:22 GMT identical, ranked by change; the Nikkei 225 is the board’s only riser, and its close matches the network’s written closing figure exactly. The Nikkei 225 and Topix changes are measured against their closes of 18 September, Japan’s final cash session before the three day closure on the exchange’s calendar as recorded, as the feed carries them. The Nifty 50 close is confirmed first hand at the National Stock Exchange’s own board, 23,063.10, down 383.70 points, matching the feed exactly. South Korea’s market carried no session, shut for the first of two Chuseok holidays per the Korea Exchange calendar as recorded, so the Kospi carries no row and returns Monday 28 September.

Top losers

Top losers, same session, basis and capture as the gainers table, stacked shallowest to deepest; every change on the seven rows outside Japan reconciles against our published 23 September closes, and the Topix change is measured against its 18 September close as stated above.

Commodities and currencies

Intraday quotes captured at 10:20 GMT on Thursday 24 September 2026, one call, one stamp, fixed order; the Brent and WTI changes are measured against Wednesday’s written settlements as carried in the price feed, which match the settlements cited in our 23 September wraps exactly, with the WTI row on the November contract as disclosed there; the gold and silver changes are measured against Wednesday’s settlements as carried in the feed, settlement to snapshot. The currency rows are on the vendor’s daily basis.

Why it matters: the region’s first session with Tokyo back told a rates story more than an equity one, on our reading. Japan’s headline index rose on its reopening day while the broader Topix slipped and the country’s bond market repriced to levels last seen thirty years ago, the same shape New York closed with hours earlier, and the only index that finished higher is the one that carries SoftBank’s 11.1 billion dollar OpenAI tap, an opening jump that faded to a 0.59 percent close. The breadth is the tell: eight of nine open markets fell, the two Chinese boards and Mumbai deepest, on a day the truce extension should have read as good news for the region’s exporters, which reads as a market repricing the cost of money faster than it can price the good news, on our reading. And the barrel’s climb to 105 at our capture keeps the region’s refiners buying at the highest import run since the war began, per the figures the network carried.

Outlook: our Europe wrap follows a session the network’s blog opened 0.1 percent lower with oil and gas stocks bucking the trend, and our commodities and United States wraps take tonight’s settlements with Brent above 105 at our capture and the October hike priced at 73 percent as of last night’s record. Seoul stays shut Friday for Chuseok and returns Monday 28 September, per the exchange calendar as recorded, Riyadh returns from its National Day closure today, and Xi’s state visit runs through Friday in Washington, per the network. For this board the open question is whether Tokyo’s bond market lets its equity market keep the reopening gain.

Sources: National Stock Exchange of India, Korea Exchange, CNBC, Reuters, The Edge.

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