Morning Wrap: Wall Street tech rally spills over to Asia. Iran toughens its negotiation stance (13.08.2026)

📈 Asian Session, Indices

• Futures on major US indices extend gains despite mixed signals regarding the Middle East and increasingly firm conditions set simultaneously by Iran and the US.

• Nasdaq 100 futures still lead (US100: +0.3%), while the lagging Dow Jones (US30 unchanged) points to capital rotation into new technologies following the latest series of earnings from AI solution providers.

• Asian stock markets follow gains on Wall Street, where a rally in semiconductor stocks propelled the Nasdaq 100 index to recent highs. In-line US inflation data dampened concerns over imminent rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

• The broad MSCI Asia-Pacific index adds 0.6%. South Korea led regional gains (KOSPI: +3.7%). Japan's Nikkei 225 gains 1.1%. China's Hang Seng index trades flat. Declines were recorded on Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index (-0.4%).

🌏 Economy and Politics

• Iran countered Trump's comments that "the US has full control over the Strait of Hormuz," stressing that maritime traffic will not resume until Iran's conditions are accepted. Both sides of the conflict are setting increasingly firm conditions, demanding, among other things, reparations.

• The RBA's Christopher Kent described the current level of interest rates as "at the upper end of the neutral range." The central banker also acknowledged that a stronger AUD supports the fight against inflation, though it remains subject to uncertainty and risks of further increases.

• Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi declared that the government supports faster rate hikes by the Bank of Japan. The yen began to firm slightly following the comments.

💱 Currencies, Commodities, and Energy

• The US Dollar Index finished trading yesterday with a gain of around 0.2% despite no surprises in the CPI inflation data, which fell as expected (currently USDIDX is flat). The New Zealand Dollar is the weakest G10 currency today following a drop in 2-year inflation expectations to 2.34% (NZDUSD: -0.35%, NZDJPY: -0.4%). EURUSD gains 0.05% to 1.1526.

• Gold (GOLD) cools off, pulling back 0.15% to the psychological level of $4,400 per ounce. A correction is also visible in platinum (-0.4%) and palladium (-0.55%) futures, while silver (SILVER) trades flat at $66.20 per ounce.

• Brent crude futures (OIL) gain 0.7% to $89 per barrel amid the exchange of comments regarding the Strait of Hormuz, holding near 2-week highs.