The Japan Times - Oil gains, stocks cautious on uncertain Mideast peace prospects

US President Donald Trump has described the latest discussions as being on the "borderline" between a deal and renewed strikes.

Pakistan's army chief was due in Iran on Thursday, Iranian media reported, with Islamabad mediating as Tehran examines a new US proposal to end the war.

Meanwhile the head of the International Energy Agency warned that the world oil market risks entering a "red zone" on supplies during the upcoming summer season should there be no progress on ending the Middle East war.

"Now that Nvidia results are out of the way, it is back to focusing on Iran for global markets, and today has illustrated the uncertainty of the situation perfectly," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading and investing platform IG.

A ceasefire on April 8 halted the war, but negotiation efforts have so far failed to yield a lasting peace agreement, and Trump has made wildly varying statements regarding the progress of the talks.

"Weeks of this lie ahead, potentially months, but Hormuz remains closed, a ticking timebomb underneath the global economy," Beauchamp added.

There were earlier big gains for technology stocks in Asia after chip giant Nvidia posted record quarterly revenue of $81.6 billion, blowing past analyst forecasts on the voracious demand for artificial intelligence hardware.

Sentiment was also boosted by Elon Musk's filing for a public sale of SpaceX shares, which could be the largest initial public offering in history as the rocket and satellite company seeks to raise up to $75 billion.

"This could be a blockbuster summer for IPOs with OpenAI also expected to list in the coming weeks," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

"How the market absorbs these new listings will be crucial for the future of the AI trade, as both companies are at the heart of the AI revolution," she said.

South Korea's benchmark Kospi index surged 8.4 percent, helped by Samsung Electronics shares after unions paused a 18-day strike.

Japan's Nikkei index ended with a gain of 3.1 percent.

But the positive sentiment dissipated in European trading, where stocks ended mostly lower.

Wall Street's main equity indices were lower in late morning trading.

Despite Nvidia's profit growth, the company's shares failed to get a boost as they have in previous quarters. They initially edged higher but then dropped.

Staggering rises in tech shares helped drive markets to record highs in recent months, but with many investors now set to be overvalued there are worries a pullback lies in store, said investment analyst Bret Kenwell at eToro.

"While geopolitical risks could still flare up, the more pressing issue appears to be macro-related," he said, pointing to the recent rise in sovereign bond yields and the prospect of central banks raising interest rates.

The yields demanded by investors to lend to governments by buying their bonds have peaked in recent days, indicating weakening confidence in their economies and inflation fears.

- Key figures at around 1530 GMT -

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.8 percent at $107.92 a barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 3.4 percent at $101.59 a barrel

New York - DOW: DOWN 0.2 percent at 49,903.09 points

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,406.79

New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 26,139.97

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 10,443.47 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 8,086.00 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.5 percent at 24,606.77 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 3.1 percent at 61,684.14 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0 percent at 25,386.52 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 2.0 percent at 4,077.28 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1587 from $1.1629

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3407 from $1.3442 on Wednesday

Dollar/yen: UP at 159.18 yen from 158.89

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.45 pence from 86.53 pence

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K.Yoshida--JT