Oil climbs to $93.8 as US debt and AI bond sales pressure stocks
This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.
Oil prices jumped to $93.8 a barrel after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the White House would impose its toughest-ever sanctions on Iran. Kazakhstan's KASE index fell 0.6% to 7,962.7 points while the tenge strengthened to 457.34 per dollar. US 30-year yields rose above 5.3% as federal debt topped $40 trillion.
Key Facts
- Oil jumped to $93.8 a barrel, up 2.4%, after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the White House would impose its toughest-ever sanctions on Iran.
- The KASE index fell 0.6% to 7,962.7 points, with Kazatomprom down 3.6% and KazTransOil down 2.5%.
- The tenge strengthened to 457.34 per US dollar, down 4.71 tenge, on trading volume of $468.2 million.
- US federal debt exceeded $40 trillion for the first time, equal to 130% of GDP, and 30-year Treasury yields rose above 5.3%, the highest since 2007.
- Big technology companies sold about $75 billion in bonds to finance AI data centers, nearly doubling their total borrowing from last year.
Oil and Currency Markets
On KASE trading Thursday, purchases of the national currency prevailed ahead of quarterly tax payment peaks, rising oil prices, and one-off demand for foreign currency. The average USD/KZT rate fell to 457.34 tenge per dollar, down 4.71 tenge, on trading volume of $468.2 million, well above the year's average. Oil jumped to $93.8 per barrel, up 2.4%, after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the White House would impose the toughest-ever sanctions on Iran. Bessent added he would hold a press conference Monday to outline President Donald Trump's "economic war" plan against Iran.
US Debt and Treasury Yields
US federal debt exceeded $40 trillion for the first time, equal to 130% of last year's GDP. The 30-year Treasury yield rose above 5.3%, the highest since 2007, while the budget deficit stood around 6% of GDP. The US Treasury announced on August 19 that starting next month it will increase its own purchases of long-term debt instruments. Deutsche Bank analysts said the step reflected the administration's "growing discomfort" with the rise in yields. Long-term yields in the UK, France, and Germany also reached levels not seen in more than 10 years.
Kazakhstan Equities and Money Market
The KASE index fell 0.6% to 7,962.7 points, with trading volume rising 2.1 times to 846.7 million tenge. Pressure came from Kazatomprom (-3.6%), KazTransOil (-2.5%), and Air Astana (-1.9%) on portfolio rebalancing, while Kazakhtelecom (+1.5%) provided support. Halyk Bank approved a dividend of 28.09 tenge per ordinary share. Money market rates were mixed: TONIA fell to 16.01% from 16.03%, while SWAP-1D rose to 12.21% from 12.13%. Demand at the National Bank's deposit auction rose to 1.2 trillion tenge and was fully satisfied at 16.75% annual rate, with the open position around 8.5 trillion tenge.
3 sources
Oil climbs to $93.8 as US debt and AI bond sales pressure stocks
