Asia Market Wrap 26 August: Chipmakers Lead as Oil Falls a Third Day on Hormuz Talks
Two of Asia’s most semiconductor-heavy markets led the region higher on Wednesday, hours before Nvidia reports second-quarter results. Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.47 percent to 45,832.62, the strongest of the eleven benchmarks we track, and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.97 percent to 6,808.21. Seven of the eleven finished higher, and the spread between best and worst was 1.99 percentage points, on our calculation, one of the narrowest of the month.
The macro driver came from the Gulf. Reuters reported that global equities edged higher and bond yields fell on hopes that the Strait of Hormuz could soon reopen, after Iran said it had restarted talks with Oman on managing the waterway. Crude fell for a third consecutive session on the prospect of more supply moving through a strait that carried a fifth of the world’s traded oil before the conflict. At our capture Brent for October delivery was down 3.00 percent at 85.92 dollars a barrel and West Texas Intermediate 2.67 percent at 80.16 dollars.
The chip trade, and what Korea’s two indices show
The regional tape did not divide along the usual line between developed and emerging markets. Markets with heavier exposure to the artificial-intelligence hardware complex generally outperformed those without it, though the split is a tendency rather than a clean partition, since China and Japan carry meaningful exposure of their own.
Behind Taiwan and Korea came China’s Shenzhen Component at plus 0.69 percent to 13,841.33, Japan’s Nikkei 225 at plus 0.62 percent to 66,262.16, the Shanghai Composite at plus 0.59 percent to 3,912.52 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng at plus 0.56 percent to 25,652.97. Japan’s broader Topix rose 0.42 percent to 4,111.02, lagging the Nikkei, which is consistent with stronger performance among some of the large technology names that carry more weight in the Nikkei than in the wider market.
Korea makes the point most sharply. The large-cap Kospi rose 0.97 percent while the small-cap Kosdaq was flat at minus 0.03 percent to 826.87, a gap of a full percentage point in favour of the large caps. On Tuesday the relationship was exactly inverted: the Kosdaq led the region at plus 1.70 percent while the Kospi managed 0.68 percent, a gap of 1.02 points the other way. Two sessions, the same market, opposite ends of the capitalisation scale leading. That pattern is more consistent with event-driven positioning ahead of Nvidia than with any sudden change in the Korean macro outlook.
Four benchmarks fell. India’s Nifty 50 was the weakest at minus 0.52 percent to 24,207.75, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.40 percent to 9,127.80 and Singapore’s Straits Times 0.25 percent to 5,721.59. The Edge did not confirm a driver for the Indian decline at an approved originator and does not offer one; the move is reported here as a price fact.
Asia bought what Europe was selling
The more interesting observation is regional rather than sectoral. Reuters reported that while Asian chip markets closed higher, European technology was down 1.3 percent during its own session and Nasdaq futures were 0.2 percent lower, with Nvidia’s results framed as a reason for hesitancy rather than for buying. The same scheduled event coincided with accumulation in Asia and caution in Europe within hours of each other.
The number that matters tonight is not the quarter being reported but the one being guided to. Reuters reported that analysts expect Nvidia to forecast an 82.8 percent rise in third-quarter sales to 104.20 billion dollars, with the adjusted gross margin for both the second and third quarters expected to stay around 75 percent, and noted that the stock is up about 14 percent so far this year and on course for its smallest annual gain in four years. Read against that, Asia’s chip markets were not pricing a blowout. They were closing a discount that had opened during Monday’s selloff.
Japan, Australia and the policy calendar
The Bank of Japan reported that its services producer price index rose 3.6 percent in July from a year earlier, after a revised 3.4 percent in June, and 0.4 percent on the month. Services inflation running above 3 percent matters more for the policy debate than goods prices do, because it is the component most closely tied to wages.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the monthly consumer price index rose 3.5 percent in the year to July, easing from 3.8 percent in June, but that the trimmed mean measure of underlying inflation was unchanged at 3.6 percent and remains above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 2 to 3 percent target band. Housing rose 5.0 percent and transport accelerated to 1.6 percent from 0.1 percent, with automotive fuel up 7.5 percent on the month. The headline eased and the core did not, which is the least useful combination for a central bank. The S&P/ASX 200 finished lower on the day, though The Edge has not verified a causal link between the two at an approved source.
The Bank of Korea announces on Thursday 27 August. It raised its base rate by a quarter point to 2.75 percent on 16 July in a unanimous vote, its first increase since 2023, citing an economy outperforming expectations on the strength of semiconductors, inflation expected to stay above target for a considerable time, and financial-stability concerns over housing prices and household debt.
Corporate and the wider tape
Reuters returned on Wednesday to a recall announced in China last week, in which nine carmakers said they would fix a combined 4.3 million vehicles over concerns that the emergency buttons or levers that let occupants open a door by hand can be hard to find. Reuters describes it as the largest recall to date in the world’s biggest car market, and as evidence that Beijing is now setting new safety standards for some of the world’s most advanced vehicles.
Reuters separately reported, citing three people familiar with the talks, that Moonshot AI is negotiating revenue-sharing agreements with Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet’s Google that would let those cloud providers host its Kimi K3 model, with Moonshot seeking up to a 30 percent share of the revenue generated from K3-related services. Any deal, Reuters notes, could mark the first significant revenue-sharing arrangement between a Chinese artificial-intelligence developer and a major United States cloud company.
In currencies and rates, the dollar index firmed 0.11 percent to 99.026 while the yen was little changed at 159.09 to the dollar. The Chinese yuan was steady at 6.7205, the Korean won eased to 1,384.40 and the Indian rupee was unchanged at 95.4125. The United States 10-year Treasury yield was near flat at 4.645 percent. COMEX gold for December fell 0.36 percent to 4,677.50 dollars and September silver 0.23 percent to 68.53 dollars. The VIX rose 1.62 percent to 15.70 and bitcoin eased 0.18 percent to 78,777.44 dollars.
Asia equities, 26 August close
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Taiex (Taiwan) | 45,832.62 | +1.47% |
| Kospi (South Korea) | 6,808.21 | +0.97% |
| Shenzhen Component (China) | 13,841.33 | +0.69% |
| Nikkei 225 (Japan) | 66,262.16 | +0.62% |
| Shanghai Composite (China) | 3,912.52 | +0.59% |
| Hang Seng (Hong Kong) | 25,652.97 | +0.56% |
| Topix (Japan) | 4,111.02 | +0.42% |
| Kosdaq (South Korea) | 826.87 | -0.03% |
| Straits Times (Singapore) | 5,721.59 | -0.25% |
| S&P/ASX 200 (Australia) | 9,127.80 | -0.40% |
| Nifty 50 (India) | 24,207.75 | -0.52% |
Commodities, intraday 26 August
| Contract | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| COMEX silver, September 2026 | $68.53 | -0.23% |
| COMEX gold, December 2026 | $4,677.50 | -0.36% |
| WTI crude, October 2026 | $80.16 | -2.67% |
| ICE Brent crude, October 2026 | $85.92 | -3.00% |
Currencies, rates, volatility and crypto, intraday 26 August
| Instrument | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| VIX | 15.70 | +1.62% |
| ICE dollar index | 99.026 | +0.11% |
| USD/CNY | 6.7205 | +0.00% |
| USD/INR | 95.4125 | unchanged |
| USD/JPY | 159.09 | -0.04% |
| EUR/USD | 1.1663 | -0.09% |
| USD/KRW | 1,384.40 | +0.16% |
| Bitcoin | $78,777.44 | -0.18% |
| GBP/USD | 1.3619 | -0.22% |
| US 10-year Treasury yield | 4.645% | +0.6 bp |
| USD/KWD, Central Bank of Kuwait | 0.306850 | official rate, 26 August, unchanged |
| USD/EGP, Central Bank of Egypt | 50.3513 buy / 50.4906 sell | official rate, 25 August |
United States, 25 August close, for reference
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq Composite | 26,151.30 | +0.66% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 29,209.23 | +0.64% |
| Russell 2000 | 3,010.02 | +0.50% |
| S&P 500 | 7,677.28 | +0.32% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 53,577.40 | +0.30% |
Europe, 25 August close, for reference
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| OMX Helsinki (Finland) | 13,712.16 | +1.58% |
| OMXS30 (Sweden) | 3,318.26 | +0.83% |
| OMXC 25 (Denmark) | 1,935.07 | +0.77% |
| DAX (Germany) | 26,266.14 | +0.61% |
| PSI 20 (Portugal) | 9,445.44 | +0.57% |
| SMI (Switzerland) | 14,525.29 | +0.54% |
| BEL 20 (Belgium) | 5,834.53 | +0.36% |
| Stoxx Europe 600 (Europe) | 656.48 | +0.35% |
| FTSE MIB (Italy) | 52,720.31 | +0.34% |
| FTSE 100 (United Kingdom) | 10,886.16 | +0.29% |
| Euro Stoxx 50 (euro area) | 6,455.63 | +0.12% |
| AEX (Netherlands) | 1,108.34 | -0.15% |
| CAC 40 (France) | 8,439.20 | -0.16% |
| IBEX 35 (Spain) | 20,056.60 | -0.21% |
Middle East, 25 August close, for reference
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Tadawul All Share (Saudi Arabia) | 11,231.61 | +0.51% |
| MSCI Tadawul 30 (Saudi Arabia) | 1,512.92 | +0.50% |
| QE Index (Qatar) | 9,785.09 | +0.46% |
| FTSE ADX General (Abu Dhabi) | 10,070.02 | +0.22% |
| EGX 30 (Egypt) | 55,277.03 | +0.20% |
| Kuwait Premier Market | 9,321.47 | +0.03% |
| MSX 30 (Oman) | 7,502.53 | +0.02% |
| Kuwait All-Share | 8,901.90 | +0.02% |
| Nomu Parallel Market (Saudi Arabia) | 21,622.39 | -0.11% |
| DFM General (Dubai) | 5,834.57 | -0.53% |
Asian closes taken after each market’s close on 26 August 2026 and confirmed static across two pulls. Commodities, currencies, rates, volatility and crypto are a single intraday capture taken at 10:54 GMT and may differ from later screen values. The Gulf session of 26 August was still open at that capture, so the Middle East reference table carries the 25 August close. United States and European reference closes are carried from our wraps of 25 August. Sources: CNBC for index, commodity, currency, rate, volatility and crypto levels; Reuters; Bank of Japan; Australian Bureau of Statistics; Bank of Korea; Central Bank of Kuwait; Central Bank of Egypt; The Edge calculations.
WHAT IS AHEAD
Nvidia reports second quarter results after the United States close on Wednesday at about 20:20 GMT. Earlier the same day, at 12:30 GMT, the Bureau of Economic Analysis releases July personal consumption expenditures inflation alongside the second estimate of second quarter gross domestic product and preliminary corporate profits. The Bank of Korea announces its policy decision on Thursday 27 August. The Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium runs from Thursday to Saturday on the theme of financial innovation and its implications for payments and policy, with keynote remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh on Friday. Boursa Kuwait is closed on Thursday 27 August for the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and resumes on Sunday 30 August.
