The yen fell to 160.20 per dollar after the Federal Reserve chair signaled openness to raising interest rates, pushing up U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar. Japan has already spent a record $98.7 billion intervening to support the currency, but the yen remains under pressure. Japan’s 10-year government bond yield rose to a fresh 30-year high of 2.95% the same day. Markets are watching the upcoming G20 finance chiefs meeting for possible U.S. pressure on Japan to keep fiscal discipline and for the BOJ to raise rates.

Indian equities are expected to open lower on 31 August as weak global cues and renewed US-Iran tensions weigh on risk appetite. In the previous session, the Sensex rose 330 points to 77,264 and the Nifty 50 gained 84 points to 24,175. Brent climbed to $89.18 and WTI to $84.32 after US strikes near the Strait of Hormuz lifted supply-disruption concerns, according to the report. Technicians said a sustained break lower could pull the Nifty 50 toward the 23,800–23,650 band.

Gold prices fell more than 1% on August 28 after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh suggested the central bank could raise interest rates to curb inflation. Spot gold was down 0.8% at $4,563.05 an ounce, according to Reuters. In India, gold slipped to ₹1,56,780 per 10 grams, down 1.77%. The decline followed a three-month high earlier in the week that was driven by optimism after the U.S. Treasury’s support for long-term bonds.

Hindustan Copper is benefiting from a stronger copper cycle as LME copper prices rose 45% year on year to $14,500 per tonne amid rising demand. The company is India’s only copper miner, producing 3.7 million tonnes of ore in FY26, with targets of 4.7 million tonnes in FY27 and 12.2 million tonnes by FY30. Its ore grade of about 1.3% supports lower processing costs, helping EBITDA rise 140% year on year to over ₹500 crore. However, the stock has climbed 130% over the past year, leaving valuations looking expensive.

Zinc prices pulled back from a four-year high, even as London Metal Exchange spreads pointed to tighter near-term supply. The cash-to-three-month premium on the LME at one point neared $200 a ton, the widest since December, while the Tom-next spread rose to about $13 a ton, the highest since March. Treatment charges paid by miners to smelters have fallen to as low as minus $110 a ton, highlighting constraints in ore supply.

India’s Bharat Electronics (BEL) said it has secured a new order worth ₹73 billion. The announcement is expected to put the stock in focus on Thursday. The shares have rebounded 8% in August, reversing an earlier decline.

MCX gold October futures rose 0.16% to ₹1,63,146 per 10 grams, while MCX silver September futures gained 0.64% to ₹2,45,700 per kg. Brent crude futures slid 3% to trade near $86 per barrel, keeping the US dollar index below 99 on expectations the Strait of Hormuz could reopen after Iran said it had resumed talks with neighbouring Oman on managing the waterway. Investors are watching the US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index for July, due at 1230 GMT, and a speech by Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh at the annual Jackson Hole symposium on Friday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is advancing a long-term bond buyback plan, saying each operation will repurchase at least an additional $2 billion of long-dated Treasuries through Nov. 4. Markets read the move as a signal aimed at containing funding costs and stabilizing the bond market. After the announcement, gold extended gains, rising 2.4% on Friday and 5.9% in total. Silver and platinum also jumped, up 8.6% and 9.3%, respectively.

An AI investment boom among the five largest hyperscale tech companies has pushed up perceived credit risk in their bonds. Hyperscalers’ outstanding bonds maturing in 2035 now yield 5.7%, with the spread over the 10-year U.S. Treasury widening to 1.05 percentage points from 0.44 percentage points a year earlier, according to LSEG data. Credit default swap costs for Oracle and Alphabet have also risen sharply, even as U.S. Treasury yields climbed to their highest level since 2007.