Asian shares mostly higher and Mideast tensions push Brent crude past $96

BANGKOK, July 23, (AP): Asian shares were mostly higher on Thursday, while the intensifying war with Iran pushed Brent crude past $96 a barrel. South Korea’s Kospi rose 3.7%, to 7,028.66 as investors’ appetite for stocks related to artificial intelligence revived despite a retreat on Wall Street. Samsung Electronics gained 3%, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix advanced 3.4%. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 picked up 0.5% to 66,461.62.

Technology companies led gains, with stocks in SoftBank Group climbing 3.3%. The US dollar was trading at 163.05 yen as the Japanese currency wavered near its lowest level in 40 years. Expectations that the gap between US interest rates and Japanese interest rates will widen due to higher inflation in the US have helped to drive the dollar higher against the yen.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.3% to 25,227.06, while the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.2% to 3,859.69. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.7% to 8,883.00. Taiwan's Taiex lost 1% and the Sensex in India fell 0.3%. US futures declined after US stock indexes barely budged on Wednesday as oil prices rose 3%. The S&P 500 edged 0.1% lower to 7,498.96, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped less than 0.1%, to 52,218.58.

The Nasdaq composite fell 0.6% to close at 25,690.90 as Alphabet Inc., parent company of Google, sank 1.5% ahead of its earnings report, which arrived after trading ended. It posted stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter, a sign that it’s massive artificial intelligence spending spree is paying off so far. However, its share price fell another 2.9% in after-hours trading.

Tesla's share price dropped 1.3% on Wednesday and another 4.1% in after-hours trading after the car company run by Elon Musk said its profits fell last quarter as it shoveled more money into research and development, cutting into earnings from a sharp increase in vehicle sales.