Asian shares advanced on Thursday, mirroring gains on Wall Street, with South Korea’s benchmark Kospi surging more than 6%. The rally followed an announcement from the U.S. Treasury Department that it would at least double the size of planned purchases of longer-term government debt.

This expansion of debt buybacks is anticipated to alleviate pressure on share prices originating from the bond market. By increasing purchases, the Treasury aims to push bond prices higher, consequently lowering yields. Yields on U.S. government bonds saw a decline after the announcement, with the 10-year Treasury yield falling to approximately 4.64% from 4.71% the previous day. The 30-year Treasury yield decreased to 5.18% from 5.28% on Tuesday. These yields remain elevated compared to pre-war levels.

Concerns over inflation, driven by geopolitical conflicts and increasing government debt, have contributed to rising yields in recent months. The U.S. Treasury’s announcement appeared to reassure investors unsettled by this trend. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite also rose 0.2%, marking the first gains for the S&P 500 in four days.

In regional markets, the Kospi surged 6.1% to 6,858.91, a notable rebound after a 5.8% drop on Wednesday. Major South Korean companies saw significant gains, with Samsung Electronics jumping 9.7% and memory chipmaker SK Hynix surging 14.1% following a substantial share buyback announcement.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.3% to 66,178.26, reversing earlier week declines. Japan reported a trade deficit for the third consecutive month in July, despite record highs in both imports and exports. Shares of SoftBank Group, an investor in OpenAI, added 3.8%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.1% to 25,786.32, while China’s Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.3% to 3,905.23. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.3% to 9,066.40. Taiwan’s Taiex remained nearly unchanged, and India’s Sensex climbed 0.7%.

Bond yields in Asia also eased following the U.S. Treasury's announcement. Japan’s 10-year government bond yield fell to around 2.83% from over 2.89% on Wednesday.

Oil prices saw a slight increase early Thursday, with Brent crude gaining 0.3% to $91.90 a barrel and U.S. benchmark crude edging 0.2% higher to $84.57 a barrel, amid limited progress in U.S.-Iran negotiations.

The U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, trading at 158.60 yen, up from 158.16 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1676, slightly down from $1.1677.