Europe's gas prices have doubled, with the worst yet to come

• The People's Bank of China maintained its Loan Prime Rates (LPRs) overnight, keeping the 1-year rate at 3.0% and the 5-year rate at 3.5%. • This decision aligns with market expectations and follows the stability of the 7-day reverse repo rate, which has seen no recent adjustments.

• Global bonds stabilized on August 20, 2026, after the U.S. Treasury doubled long-bond buybacks, which lowered yields and put downward pressure on the U.S. dollar. • Brazil's central bank (Copom) unanimously cut the Selic rate by 25 basis points on August 5, bringing it to 14.00% following a series of four consecutive quarter-point reductions from a 15.00% peak.

• The CAC 40 closed at 8,501.91 points on Wednesday, marking a slight decline of 7.45 points (0.088%) from the previous day. • The dip was driven by a broader semiconductor selloff, specifically impacting STMicroelectronics, which weighed down both the French and Italian (FTSE MIB) markets.

• The US Treasury has announced it will double its buyback program for long-dated bonds to improve market liquidity and stabilize yields. • Following the announcement, yields on 30-year bonds dropped as investors reacted to the increased government support.

• The U.S. Department of the Treasury is increasing the size of its liquidity support buyback operations for longer-dated nominal coupon securities starting September 9. • The operations will target the 10-year to 20-year and 20-year to 30-year sectors, raising the maximum size per operation from $2 billion to at least $4 billion.

• US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has initiated a new round of debt buybacks to combat rising long-term borrowing costs. • The move comes as Treasury yields hit multi-year highs, prompting the administration to intervene to stabilize the market.

• On August 20, Asian markets saw a strong rebound, with South Korea's KOSPI Index surging 5.89% to 6,852.58 points and Japan's Nikkei 225 rising 1.36% to 66,216.79 points. • Major tech stocks led the rally, including SK Hynix (up over 12%), Samsung (up over 9%), and Kioxia (up over 6%), while the Korea Exchange activated a Sidecar mechanism to manage program buying.

• South Korea's Kospi index surged 4%, leading a broader rally across Asian markets following a positive trend in bond yields. • The MSCI Asia Pacific index rose by 1%, effectively ending a two-day losing streak for the region.

• Asian stock markets advanced on Thursday, August 20, 2026, following positive trends from Wall Street. • South Korea's benchmark Kospi index saw the most significant gain, rebounding by more than 6%.

• Asian stock markets rallied on Thursday, Aug 20, following a surprise intervention by the US Treasury to stabilize bond markets. • The US Treasury announced it will "at least double" the issuance of long-term bonds to lower borrowing costs, which had recently surged to near two-decade highs.

• Asian currencies have strengthened following a decline in U.S. Treasury yields, which reduced pressure on regional exchange rates. • The South Korean won notably surged to its highest level in one year as part of this broader regional rally.