Business
The agreement brings the Ministry of Investment and Downstreaming together with the Ministry of Youth and Sports on business licensing. It also covers investment promotion and services for companies operating in sports-related fields. The ministries will coordinate through Indonesia’s Online Single Submission system, known as OSS. Their cooperation also includes compliance monitoring, regulatory coordination and data sharing. The framework applies to investment development across Indonesia’s sports sector rather than establishing a US$521 billion domestic industry target.
Oil prices recovered modestly on Tuesday after Brent crude and WTI fell more than 2% in the previous session. Brent futures rose 27 cents, or 0.3%, to $92.44 a barrel by 0330 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained 37 cents, or 0.4%, to $85.38. The rebound followed Monday’s sharp pullback, which ended six consecutive sessions of gains across the two benchmark crude contracts.
Alibaba Group has priced an HK$80 billion share placement to fund artificial intelligence investment and expand its AI infrastructure. The Chinese technology group will issue 710 million new ordinary shares at HK$112.70 each. The deal is worth about US$10.2 billion at current exchange rates. Alibaba expects the transaction to close on Aug. 26, subject to customary conditions.
Japan’s imports and exports both reached record monthly highs in July 2026, as energy costs and semiconductor demand lifted the value of trade. Imports rose 27.8% from a year earlier to about 12.15 trillion yen. Exports increased 23.2% to roughly 11.51 trillion yen. The Ministry of Finance figures showed imports grew faster than exports, leaving Japan with a trade deficit of 634.5 billion yen for the month.
U.S. stocks ended modestly higher Wednesday as long-term Treasury yields fell sharply. The S&P 500 rose 16.22 points, or 0.21%, to 7,707.98, ending a three-session losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 119.65 points, or 0.22%, to close at 53,463.05. The Nasdaq Composite added 41.38 points, or 0.16%, finishing at 26,331.09. Falling government bond yields helped major indexes recover after several sessions of pressure from rising borrowing costs. Bond prices climbed after the U.S. Treasury Department announced larger liquidity support buybacks for longer-dated government debt. Starting September 9, the maximum purchase size will increase from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation. The change covers nominal coupon securities in the 10-to-20-year and 20-to-30-year maturity sectors. The increased amounts will remain in effect through November 4. The department said strong volumes of high-quality offers supported the decision to increase liquidity operations in those sectors. Treasury yields moved lower following the announcement, reversing part of a recent rise in long-term borrowing costs. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to about 4.65%, while the 30-year yield declined to about 5.20%. Bond yields move inversely to prices, so stronger demand for government debt pushed yields lower. The retreat eased pressure that had accompanied the recent
Eco-friendly vehicles provided the strongest lift to South Korea’s auto exports during the month. Their export value increased 25.5% from a year earlier to US$2.59 billion. Electric and hydrogen vehicle exports rose 31.9% to US$940 million. Hybrid exports advanced 22.2% to US$1.65 billion. By contrast, exports of internal combustion engine vehicles fell 3.1% to US$3.65 billion. Eco-friendly models accounted for about 41.5% of the country’s total automobile export value in July.