Stocks mixed as oil rises and dollar slips

Stock markets were mixed on Friday as oil prices edged higher and the dollar weakened while investors weighed the outlook for US interest rates and the war in the Middle East.

US inflation data this week strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve would not rush to raise borrowing costs. But worries about inflation remained prominent as the US-Iran conflict continued.

Stephen Innes, global strategist at Quintex Intel, said the latest data had changed the market debate over the Fed. “The market now wants to know what would actually force the Fed to tighten,” he said.

Seoul gained more than 2 percent as shares in SK hynix and Samsung recovered further after last month's selloff. Tokyo also rose, helped by gains for Kioxia, Advantest, Sony and SoftBank.

Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila and Wellington also gained. Hong Kong, Sydney, Taipei and Mumbai fell, while Shanghai ended little changed.

In European midday trading, London was down 0.1 percent, Paris was up 0.1 percent and Frankfurt rose 0.7 percent. On Thursday, Wall Street gained and the S&P 500 hit another record high.

Around 1100 GMT, Brent crude was up 0.2 percent at $87.20 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was up 0.6 percent at $81.75. The euro rose to $1.1555 from $1.1528 on Thursday, while the dollar fell to 159.16 yen from 159.52 yen.