Australia stocks rise over 1%, crossing 9,000 threshold for the first time
Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose, with Australian stocks among the top gainers, breaking ranks with key Wall Street peers that saw declines led by tech stocks.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 benchmark rose 1.13% to end the day at a record high of 9,019. Gains were led by food company OMG Group, which surged 114.29%, printing and technology firm 333D, which jumped 55.56% and battery technology manufacturer Janus Electric Holdings, which rose 46.47%.
Over in India, the HSBC Composite flash purchasing managers’ index, which provides an early snapshot of the performance of the private sector economy, came in at 65.2, higher than July’s 61.1 and the 60.5 forecast by Reuters.
Indian markets rose in early trade with the benchmark Nifty 50 trading 0.21% higher, while the BSE Sensex index was up 0.35% as of 1:30 p.m. Indian Standard time (4 a.m. ET).
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell for the third straight session and ended the day 0.65% lower at 42,610.17. Losses were led by Daiichi Sankyo, Socionext and Lasertec Corp.
Meanwhile, the broader Topix index dropped 0.52% to 3,082.95.
Yields on Japan’s 20-year government bonds rose to 2.645%, after hitting a 26-year high earlier in the session. Yields on the 10-year government bonds ticked up to a 17-year high of 1.61%.
In South Korea, the Kospi index pared earlier gains to rise 0.37% at 3,141.74, while the small-cap Kosdaq was flat at 777.24.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 increased by 0.39% to 4,28807, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.2% to 25,116.51.
— Amala Balakrishner
The 8 most valuable U.S. stocks all fell Wednesday. The next 7 all rose
The farther down the S&P 500 one looked Wednesday, the more green on the screen.
All eight of the largest companies in the S&P 500 — consisting of the Mag Seven plus Broadcom, which are also the only eight that have a market value above $1 trillion — fell on Wednesday. The declines ranged from just 0.14% for Nvidia, the most valuable stock in the U.S., worth some $4.3 trillion, up to 1.97% for Apple, the third most highly-valued stock, after Microsoft (-0.79%).
Meanwhile, the next seven stocks with the highest market caps, all rose in price Wednesday. They were led by Walmart, with a market cap of $819 billion, ahead 1.26%. Oracle gained 0.19%, bringing the company’s market cap to $660 billion. The smallest stock in that second cohort of advancers was Mastercard, worth $536 billion, which rose 1.22%.
— Scott Schnipper
Fed Governor Lisa Cook says she won’t be ‘bullied’ into resigning from her post
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said on Wednesday that she has “no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet.”
Cook’s comments come after Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said she should resign or be fired over what he claimed was evidence of “mortgage fraud.”
“To be honest, I think she needs to resign quickly,” Pulte said of Cook on CNBC’s “Money Movers.” “I think she will have to resign, or I think she will be fired.”
Responding to Pulte’s unsubstantiated allegation, President Donald Trump also said in a Truth Social post that Cook “must resign, now!!!”
Read the latest on this story here.
— Kevin Breuninger, Darla Mercado
Coty shares plunge after weak forecast
Coty shares tanked more than 15% in extended trading after the beauty retailer’s management forecast a weak first half of fiscal year of 2026 with declines in both sales and profit.
Still, Coty sees a turnaround in the second half as new product launches and tariff mitigation kicks in. For the latest quarter, Coty reported revenue of $1.25 billion, higher than the $1.20 billion estimate per LSEG.
— Yun Li
