Tonight's Highlights: U.S. Treasury Steps in to Stabilize Bond Market; Stock Futures Rise Across the Board
U.S. stock index futures advanced broadly on Wednesday after the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced an increase in the size of its buybacks for long-dated nominal Treasuries ahead of the opening bell.
The 30-year U.S. Treasury yield retreated rapidly following the news, currently trading around 5.19%.
Earlier this week, the 30-year yield touched its highest level since 2007.
Market analysts noted that the recent government bond selloff was driven by a surge in corporate bond issuance from technology firms as well as broader concerns over the widening federal deficit.
"The economy is resilient enough," Adam Parker, founder and CEO of Trivariate Research, said on Tuesday. "I believe the cash flows and earnings power of major corporations are strong enough to absorb any comparable shocks."
In pre-market action, shares of Oracle slipped as much as 2%. People familiar with the matter reported that OpenAI's second-quarter financial performance left some investors disappointed: while OpenAI's Q2 revenue expanded 18% sequentially from the first quarter, its net losses widened.
Oracle serves as a key infrastructure partner to OpenAI.
Moderna emerged as the top pre-market gainer, with shares rocketing more than 100% after an experimental cancer vaccine co-developed with Merck & Co. achieved successful results in a late-stage clinical trial. Merck shares also rose, lending support to Dow futures.
The Federal Reserve is set to publish the minutes of its July policy meeting at 2:00 AM Thursday Beijing time, with market participants looking for fresh clues regarding the interest rate trajectory.
Company News
SK Hynix Plans to Return Over 50% of 2025–2027 Free Cash Flow to Shareholders
SK Hynix announced on August 19 that under its 2025–2027 shareholder return policy, it aims to return more than 50% of cumulative free cash flow to shareholders via share buybacks, cancellations, and cash dividends, while evaluating enhanced dividend programs including regular and special payouts.
The company stated that robust free cash flow generation enables it to implement shareholder returns ahead of schedule.
Viewing its recent share price as trading below intrinsic value, SK Hynix decided to execute a 40 trillion won share buyback and cancellation program to optimize capital allocation and enhance shareholder value.
Samsung Hikes Foundry Prices by Up to 15% on Surging AI Chip Demand
Samsung Electronics has raised prices by up to 15% on new orders for select advanced foundry nodes amid tightening fab capacity driven by AI chip demand. In a foundry market long led by TSMC, Samsung is benefiting from capacity spillover.
The company raised prices on its 4nm (SF4) node in July, lifting quote prices for new orders by 10% to 15% month-over-month. Quotes for its 5nm (SF5) node also increased by 10% to 15%, while older 8nm node prices rose by nearly 10%.
AI Chip Startup Etched Raises $700M, Doubling Valuation to $21B
AI chip startup Etched announced on August 18 that it raised $700 million in a new funding round, bringing its post-money valuation to $21 billion.
The round was led by Jane Street, with participation from Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, a16z, Tiger Global, Bain Capital Ventures, Neo, Primary, Stripes, Positive Sum, and Blackstone. Etched also named Jane Street as its inaugural commercial customer.
The funding comes roughly a month after Etched closed its Series C round at a $10.3 billion valuation.
AI Cloud Provider Nebius Plans $4.5B Convertible Debt Offering
Nebius announced on August 19 that it plans to offer $4.5 billion in two-tranche convertible senior notes, comprising $2.75 billion due in 2030 and $1.75 billion due in 2034. Proceeds will support general corporate purposes, including datacenter construction and the expansion of its AI cloud infrastructure.
Disney and ABC Sue Federal Communications Commission
The Walt Disney Company and its subsidiary American Broadcasting Company (ABC) filed a lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on August 18, challenging regulatory actions targeting the network's broadcast licenses and its talk show The View as unlawful.
In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the companies stated: "Time and again, this administration has attacked ABC’s speech—including news reported by our journalists and opinions broadcast across our network programming.
Over time, these attacks have escalated into explicit calls to revoke ABC’s broadcast licenses based on protected speech."
Lululemon Opens Global Flagship Store in Tokyo
Athletic apparel brand Lululemon opened its first global flagship store in Japan in Harajuku, Tokyo, on August 18, marking its largest retail footprint in the Asia-Pacific region. Lululemon currently operates 13 retail locations across Japan, including flagship stores in Ginza and Kyoto.
Carlsberg H1 Revenue Grows 2.6%, Lifts Full-Year Profit Outlook
Carlsberg reported first-half 2026 financial results on August 19. Revenue grew 2.6% year-over-year to 47.05 billion Danish kroner, operating profit rose 4.5% to 7.45 billion kroner, and net profit increased 6.0% to 4.29 billion kroner.
Carlsberg narrowed its full-year organic operating profit growth forecast to 4%–6% from an earlier range of 2%–6%, steering guidance toward the top end of its previous expectations.