Asia wrap: Asia starts asking questions Wall Street hasn't yet

• The Straits Times Index (STI) closed at 5,755.360 on Monday, August 31, marking an increase of 0.97%. • DFI Retail emerged as the top-performing stock during the trading session.

• The Indian government has summoned Meta following the temporary restriction of a Facebook post made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. • In industrial developments, Maruti Suzuki is expanding its manufacturing capacity in Gujarat, while Sarvam AI has announced plans to develop a trillion-parameter AI model.

• Researchers have introduced NTA-SAFE, a new framework of five indicators designed to evaluate the sustainability, adequacy, and fairness of social protection systems. • The study applies this framework to five Asian nations—Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia—to analyze how they manage population aging.

• Indian benchmark indices, the Sensex and Nifty 50, traded in a choppy range on Friday but ultimately closed in positive territory near their daily highs. • Investor sentiment remained cautious due to Brent crude prices holding above $85 a barrel, which continues to be a primary concern for the market.

• Indian markets closed lower following Friday's session, driven by MSCI rebalancing and rising expectations of a US interest rate hike after a speech by Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. • India's GDP growth was reported at 7.80%, while Cipla and the SBP Group entered into a new licensing agreement.

• Stock indices retraced as escalating tensions between the US and Iran created global market jitters and dampened hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough. • The geopolitical instability drove crude oil prices and global bond yields higher, sparking renewed fears of energy-led inflation and a sustained high-interest rate environment.

• Global stock markets opened cautiously on Monday as escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran drove oil prices up by 2 per cent. • Borrowing costs in Japan and Germany reached multi-year highs, while rising oil prices intensified concerns regarding persistent global inflation.

• The TSX closed 0.8% lower as escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran weighed on investor sentiment, though the index maintained its fifth-month gain. • Brent crude oil prices surged, recording their strongest single-day performance since late July following the resumption of military strikes between the U.S. and Iran.

• The provided text outlines the fundamentals of forex recession trading, focusing on how economic slowdowns and central bank interest rate shifts impact currency markets. • Key details include the importance of monitoring "hawkish" or "dovish" rhetoric from central banks, as discrepancies between expected and actual policies often trigger significant market volatility.

• India's Chief Economic Adviser reports that the nation's economy maintains strong near-term momentum, fueled primarily by robust domestic demand and exports. • The Reserve Bank of India's strategic deposit mobilisation is providing critical balance of payments support and stabilizing the Indian rupee against the US dollar.

• India's economy grew by 7.8% during the April-June quarter, driven primarily by strong investment and manufacturing activity. • Key growth drivers included a 9.2% increase in manufacturing and a 12.1% expansion in financial services, supported by robust bank credit growth.

• India emerged as the fastest-growing major economy in the April-June quarter of 2026, recording a real GDP growth rate of 7.8%. • This growth significantly outperformed other global powers, including China at 4.3%, as well as the United States and several large European economies.