Seoul Gazette - Stocks mostly flat with focus on US inflation

Oil prices gained close more than one percent as the United States and Iran remained deadlocked over a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to Gulf tanker and cargo traffic.

In early trading on Wall Street, the blue-chip Dow and the wider S&P were basically unchanged while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was marginally lower.

In Europe, Paris was unchanged, Frankfurt slightly higher and London slipped.

US data on Friday surprisingly showed that 23,000 jobs were lost last month, confounding widespread expectations for growth and suggesting that the US Federal Reserve would hold off on raising borrowing costs to contain stubbornly high inflation.

"People who lose their jobs and those who see their wages grow more slowly will be tempted to spend less," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote.

That would "tame inflationary pressures and help the Federal Reserve keep rates unchanged for longer", she added.

The AI sector that has recently underpinned the US stock market is increasingly reliant on debt to fund its massive investments, and would be penalised by higher interest rates, she added.

Focus now turns to US consumer inflation data due Wednesday, followed by producer prices later in the week.

Earlier in Asia, equities were boosted by technology shares following a volatile run in recent weeks, with Japanese and Korean chipmakers leading the charge.

Tokyo climbed more than two percent thanks to advances for Tokyo Electron and Advantest, and Seoul, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Mumbai also closed higher.

On currency markets, the dollar clawed back some of the losses seen Friday in reaction to the US jobs figures.

The greenback plunged against the yen earlier this month when authorities in the US and Japan embarked on a joint intervention to support the Japanese currency, saying its value had fallen too far.

Crude prices extended gains after Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned Sunday that they would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until Washington complied with demands including compensation for war damage.

"The Iran conflict remains a key source of concern for markets, with a lasting resolution seeming a distant prospect at this point," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

Tehran insists on retaining control of the waterway through which about one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passes, and wants to charge tolls for passage, a demand US officials have rejected.

- Key figures around 1340 GMT -

New York - DOW: DOWN 0.1 percent at 53,984.17 points

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,751.93

New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 26,626.19

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 10,842.98

Paris - CAC 40: FLAT at 8,715.74

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 26,341.46

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.1 percent at 66,970.22 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.1 percent at 25,937.49 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 3,966.59 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1551 from $1.1567 on Friday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3505 from $1.3499

Dollar/yen: UP at 158.95 yen from 157.50 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.56 pence from 85.68 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.5 percent at $84.81 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.4 percent at $79.29 per barrel

F.Cheon--SG