Asia stocks rise as bond yields retreat, oil steadies; U.S. jobs data awaited

Asian stock markets experienced a rise on Thursday, driven by a decline in global bond yields and a stabilization in oil prices, which boosted risk appetite. Investors were also closely monitoring regional economic data and looking forward to U.S. jobs figures to gauge the Federal Reserve's interest-rate trajectory. U.S. stock index futures remained relatively unchanged in Asian trading hours following a slight gain overnight on Wall Street.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index increased by 0.3%, led by trading houses, while the TOPIX index rose by 1%. Mitsubishi Corp (TYO:8058) saw a near 5% increase, alongside financial stocks, which climbed due to comments from Berkshire Hathaway Chief Executive Greg Abel. Abel reaffirmed the conglomerate's enduring commitment to its Japanese investments, with Berkshire holding stakes over 10% in major Japanese trading firms, potentially indicating further investment increases.

South Korea's KOSPI index gained 1.5%, and Singapore's Straits Times Index added 0.7%. The overall regional sentiment improved after U.S. stocks closed higher overnight. U.S. Treasury yields softened, with the 10-year yield dropping to 4.784% after touching multi-year peaks. The benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yield eased by approximately 5 basis points to 2.97% on Thursday, after briefly touching the 3% mark earlier in the week for the first time since 1996.

Oil prices experienced a slight decline after a three-day rally, as investors remained cautious about the potential impact of renewed U.S.-Iran military exchanges on energy supplies. The focus now shifts to Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, which will provide insights into the Federal Reserve's approach to interest rates. Market expectations indicate a roughly two-thirds probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike this month, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

China's Shanghai Composite and the blue-chip CSI 300 indexes both rose by 0.5%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index traded nearly flat. The country's RatingDog services PMI released on Thursday came in at 51.4 in August, surpassing the 50.6 forecast, indicating stronger domestic demand, heightened new-business growth, and a fourth consecutive month of job creation. This figure contrasted with China's official services gauge, which suggested contraction.

Meanwhile, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index increased by 0.5%. Data revealed that the nation's July trade surplus exceeded expectations, although it was lower than the previous month, with exports slipping 3.3% month-on-month. Futures tied to India's Nifty 50 index largely remained unchanged. In Japan, the services sector expanded at its quickest pace in five months during August, reinforcing evidence of robust domestic activity and potentially bolstering the case for additional tightening by the Bank of Japan.