Thursday, August 20, 2026 Opening bell

Bond relief lifts Tokyo, Walmart sinks on guidance

Overnight

US stocks closed higher on Wednesday after the Treasury said it would double the size of its buybacks of long dated government debt, a move that lowers borrowing costs by taking older bonds off the market, sending the 30 year yield down 9 basis points, or 0.09 of a percentage point, to 5.19 percent. The S&P 500 finished at 7,707.98, up 0.2 percent, with the Dow at 53,463.05 and the Nasdaq at 26,331.09 both also up 0.2 percent. That relief carried into Tokyo, where the Nikkei 225 closed up 1.36 percent at 66,216.79, but not into Europe, where the STOXX 600 slipped for a seventh straight session, its longest losing run since September 2023, and US futures were close to flat with the S&P 500 contract down about 0.1 percent.

What to watch

Walmart reported before the bell and the market did not like it, with adjusted profit of 81 cents a share beating the 74 cents expected but US comparable sales, meaning sales at stores open at least a year, growing only 2.6 percent against the 3.7 percent hoped for. The stock was down 7.3 percent premarket, so watch whether that drag spreads to other retailers as a read on how much the American consumer is still spending. Also in the background, oil is climbing again on the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow shipping channel that tankers use to carry oil out of the Gulf, and Wednesday's Federal Reserve minutes showed officials willing to raise rates further if inflation stays above their 2 percent target.