Overnight Headlines 12th August 2026

 

Morning Pack — Wednesday 12 August 2026

Market levels taken from the supplied screens around 06:38–06:49 BST.

Overnight Headlines

• China-linked hackers hit Taiwan in unprecedented ‘autonomous’ AI cyber attack — FT
• Poorer Americans are struggling to make ‘ends meet’, top Fed official says — FT
• US asks Ukraine to stop strikes on tankers using Russian port — FT
• Hormuz shipping traffic falls to one-week low amid hostilities — Reuters
• Oil prices rise as Red Sea and Gulf of Oman attacks heighten supply concerns — CNBC
• Why the historic U.S.-Japan intervention has failed to halt the yen’s slide — CNBC

Asia-Pacific

Market	Last	Net	%
Nikkei 225	67,481.15	+510.93	+0.76%
Shanghai	3,939.892	+5.799	+0.15%
Shenzhen	14,377.555	+118.115	+0.83%
Hang Seng	25,342.36	-310.46	-1.21%
ASX 200	9,202.90	-47.70	-0.52%
KOSPI	6,562.76	+217.23	+3.42%
STI	5,714.16	-40.01	-0.70%
NZX 50	13,737.66	-123.00	-0.89%

U.S. Cash Close

Index	Close	Net	%
Dow Jones	53,791.85	-184.13	-0.34%
Nasdaq Composite	26,445.446	-159.911	-0.60%
S&P 500	7,728.20	-24.91	-0.32%
Russell 2000	3,027.115	+9.719	+0.32%
VIX	15.28	-0.18	-1.16%

U.S. Futures

Contract	Last	Day Net	Day %	Implied Open
Dow Fut	53,900.0	+20.00	+0.04%	-11.85 (-0.02%)
S&P Fut	7,756.25	+8.75	+0.11%	-0.95 (-0.01%)
Nasdaq Fut	29,705.25	+79.25	+0.27%	+64.77 (+0.22%)
Russell Fut	3,039.0	+3.50	+0.12%	-0.11 (0.00%)

U.S. Treasuries

Maturity	Yield	Change
2Y	4.216%	-0.002 pts (-0.2 bp)
5Y	4.383%	-0.002 pts (-0.2 bp)
10Y	4.682%	-0.002 pts (-0.2 bp)
30Y	5.231%	-0.004 pts (-0.4 bp)

FX

Pair	Last	Net	%
USD/JPY	159.38	+0.11	+0.07%
EUR/USD	1.1532	-0.0008	-0.0693%
GBP/USD	1.3500	-0.0004	-0.0296%
USD/CHF	0.8120	+0.0014	+0.1727%
USD/CAD	1.3932	+0.0009	+0.06%

Commodities

Commodity	Last	Net	%
WTI Crude	$83.69	+$0.49	+0.59%
Brent Crude	$89.37	+$0.46	+0.52%
Gold	$4,387.883	+$17.89	+0.41%
Natural Gas	$2.779	+$0.012	+0.43%

Today's Calendar — GMT

Time	Event	Forecast	Previous
06:00	German CPI MoM (Jul)	0.8%	-0.3%
06:00	German CPI YoY (Jul)	2.8%	2.3%
09:00	IEA Monthly Report	—	—
10:00	OPEC Monthly Report	—	—
12:30	US Core CPI MoM (Jul)	0.2%	0.0%
12:30	US Core CPI YoY (Jul)	2.5%	2.6%
12:30	US CPI MoM (Jul)	0.1%	-0.4%
12:30	US CPI YoY (Jul)	3.4%	3.5%
14:30	US Crude Oil Inventories	-1.700M	2.479M
14:30	Cushing Crude Oil Inventories	—	2.356M
16:00	WASDE Report	—	—
17:00	US 10-Year Note Auction	—	4.580%
18:00	Federal Budget Balance (Jul)	-348.3B	-120.0B

Market Commentary

Asia is mixed but with unusually large country divergence: Korea is the standout, while Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand are softer. The yen remains under pressure near 159.4 per dollar despite the intervention story, keeping Japan FX firmly in focus.

U.S. futures are only modestly changed ahead of the main event: July CPI at 12:30 GMT. Treasury yields are little changed, suggesting investors are waiting for the inflation print rather than pre-positioning aggressively.

Energy remains the other major macro driver. WTI and Brent are higher as tensions around Red Sea and Gulf of Oman shipping keep a geopolitical premium embedded in crude. Gold is also firmer ahead of CPI.