This month’s surge in Asian bond yields has triggered an increase in debt buying across the region, as governments seek to limit the spillover from higher energy prices to local borrowing costs. Governments and central banks from South Korea to India and Indonesia are plowing funds into their bond markets to try to cap yields that have already risen to multi-year highs. Yields have been climbing o...
This month’s surge in Asian bond yields has triggered an increase in debt buying across the region, as governments seek to limit the spillover from higher energy prices to local borrowing costs. Governments and central banks from South Korea to India and Indonesia are plowing funds into their bond markets to try to cap yields that have already risen to multi-year highs. Yields have been climbing on concern local economies will suffer from higher oil costs as they are net energy importers. Korea’s government announced last week it would buy a combined 5 trillion won ($3.3 billion) of sovereign bonds over two trading days, while the Reserve Bank of India said it’s purchasing 1 trillion rupees ($10.6 billion) of debt from the open market this month. Bank Indonesia has signaled continued intervention in government bonds. “Official bond purchases are better seen as efforts to limit disorderly moves,” as markets price in more persistent spillovers from higher oil prices and supply chain disruptions, said Fesa Wibawa , an investment manager at Aberdeen in Singapore. “We wouldn’t rule out further interventions across Asia, especially if pockets of market stress emerge and the authorities judge that they have sufficient policy space to respond,” he said. Bond yields have been marching higher across the region as the outbreak of the Iran war on Feb. 28 sent oil prices soaring. The Philippine 10-year yield has surged more than one percentage point in March, while Korea’s has risen by almost 50 basis points and Indonesia’s has climbed more than 40 basis points. In addition to its emergency bond buyback, the Korean government also announced plans to redeem outstanding debt using surplus tax revenues. That followed the Bank of Korea’s decision earlier this month to purchase up to 3 trillion won of treasury bonds to counter increased yield volatility. The Korean government’s measures “will be effective in stabilizing the won rates market sentiment” ahead of the inclusion of the na...
kitiwan mesinsom/E+ via Getty Images By Jennifer Nash The Dallas Fed released its Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey (TMOS) for March. The general business activity index fell 0.4 points to -0.2, indicating no change in business conditions. Texas factory activity continued to rise in March, but at a slower pace than the previous month, according to business executives responding to the Texas Manuf...
kitiwan mesinsom/E+ via Getty Images By Jennifer Nash The Dallas Fed released its Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey (TMOS) for March. The general business activity index fell 0.4 points to -0.2, indicating no change in business conditions. Texas factory activity continued to rise in March, but at a slower pace than the previous month, according to business executives responding to the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey. The production index, a key measure of state manufacturing conditions, fell six points to 6.8, a reading suggestive of a below-average pace of output expansion. Other measures of manufacturing activity also showed signs of slower growth this month. The capacity utilization index moved down five points to 7.2, the new orders index fell to 6.1 from 11.1, and the shipments index fell eight points to 1.8. Perceptions of broader business conditions were mixed in March. The general business activity index was relatively unchanged at -0.2, with the near-zero reading indicating no change in business activity from February. However, the company outlook index fell into negative territory dropping nearly seven points to -3.5. The outlook uncertainty index shot up 20 points to 26.0, its highest reading since April 2025. Employment growth stalled and workweeks were flat in March. The employment index came in near zero, with 15 percent of firms noting net hiring and 16 percent of firms noting net layoffs. The hours worked index moved down to 0.9 from 6.1. Price pressures were little changed while wages grew at a slower pace than last month. Both the finished goods prices index and the raw materials prices index were relatively unchanged at 18.4 and 32.7, respectively. The wages and benefits index fell to 25.2 from 31.9. Press release Background on the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey (TMOS) Monthly data for this indicator only dates back to 2004, so it is difficult to see the full potential of this indicator without several business cycles of data. Nevertheless...
Earnings Call Insights: Lantern Pharma (LTRN) Q4 2025 Management View Panna Sharma, President, CEO & Director, highlighted, "2025 was a defining year for Lantern Pharma. We achieved clinical validation, we believe, across multiple programs while establishing the foundation for our next phase of growth." Sharma stated that the company reached "encouraging and a unique development with LP-300 in the...
Earnings Call Insights: Lantern Pharma (LTRN) Q4 2025 Management View Panna Sharma, President, CEO & Director, highlighted, "2025 was a defining year for Lantern Pharma. We achieved clinical validation, we believe, across multiple programs while establishing the foundation for our next phase of growth." Sharma stated that the company reached "encouraging and a unique development with LP-300 in the Phase II HARMONIC observations, combined with also a successful Phase Ia completion for our LP-184 clinical trial and most recently, an FDA IND clearance for our pediatric CNS cancer program through Starlight Therapeutics." Sharma addressed rumors regarding his departure: "This is categorically untrue and appears to be rooted in a deliberate and perhaps malicious attempt to manipulate our stock price." Sharma discussed the advancement of the HARMONIC trial for LP-300, noting the completion of targeted enrollment in Japan ahead of schedule and ongoing patient enrollment in the U.S., Japan, and Taiwan. He shared that the Phase II trial has shown an "86% clinical benefit rate and a 43% objective response rate in its initial safety lead-in cohort, including 1 patient with a durable complete response and survival continuing for nearly 2 years." Sharma announced a Type C meeting with the FDA scheduled for mid-May 2026, seeking feedback on protocol amendments for LP-300, focusing on patient enrollment with the EGFR exon 21 L858R mutation, increasing treatment cycles, and moving to a single-arm Simon 2-stage design. On LP-184, Sharma reported "a 48% clinical benefit rate at or above the therapeutic threshold" in a Phase I trial with 63 patients and emphasized mechanistic validation for DNA damage repair mutations. Starlight Therapeutics received FDA IND clearance for a Phase I pediatric CNS cancer trial, with STAR-001 gaining multiple rare pediatric disease and orphan drug designations, providing Lantern the potential to obtain FDA priority review vouchers. On the AI front, Sharma...
The comparison to the dot-com mania of the late 1990s, which came to a screeching halt in the early 2000s, is understandable, but it's ultimately misguided.
The comparison to the dot-com mania of the late 1990s, which came to a screeching halt in the early 2000s, is understandable, but it's ultimately misguided.
SlavkoSereda/iStock via Getty Images U.S. crude oil futures settled Monday above $100/bbl for the first time since July 2022 after President Trump threatened to blow up Iran's power plants, oil wells, and the Kharg Island oil export hub "if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached" to end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz trade route. At the same time, Trump said in a post on...
SlavkoSereda/iStock via Getty Images U.S. crude oil futures settled Monday above $100/bbl for the first time since July 2022 after President Trump threatened to blow up Iran's power plants, oil wells, and the Kharg Island oil export hub "if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached" to end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz trade route. At the same time, Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the U.S. was engaged in "serious discussions" with "a new and more reasonable regime" to end military operations in Iran. Adding more uncertainty to a diplomatic end to the war, The Wall Street Journal reported the Trump administration is considering a plan to extract nearly 1,000 lbs of uranium from Iran. Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen launched missiles at Israel over the weekend, raising fears that shipping in the Red Sea could be attacked at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, another crucial chokepoint for global oil trading. A successful attempt by the Houthis to disrupt flows through the Red Sea would be "catastrophic" for oil supplies out of the region, as "further production shut-ins by Saudi would then be very likely," senior oil market analyst June Goh of Sparta Commodities said in a note. "While the rhetoric out of the U.S. and Israel suggests both countries are ahead of plans, the reality is that Iran's ability to create havoc in the oil markets has not been defeated. This remains a real concern for oil inflation infiltrating the global economy," Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital said in a note. Front-month Nymex crude ( CL1:COM ) for May delivery closed up 3.2% to $102.88/bbl, its highest settlement value since July 19, 2022, and front-month Brent crude ( CO1:COM ) for May posted only a slight gain, up 0.2%, to $112.78/bbl, but it was enough for the benchmark's best settlement value since July 4, 2022. After-hours, Nymex crude rose another 3% to ~$106/bbl following reports that Iran attacked a fully laden Kuwaiti crude carrier in Dubai Port, causin...