Sawt Falasteen - Tech stocks wobble, oil prices slip back

Wall Street was higher two hours into trading following an improved US inflation reading that helped to ease concerns about possible Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.

The US producer price index slipped 0.3 percent month-on-month in June, reflecting lower energy prices amid a hoped-for Middle East conflict settlement, data showed.

Oil was meanwhile off the highs of the past two sessions as Brent shed 1.2 percent despite US forces again hitting sites in Iran and US President Donald Trump reimposing a naval blockade of ships sailing to and from the country's ports.

"Oil prices are being held in check by a supposition that President Trump's combative rhetoric is more of a negotiating strategy than a precursor to hard-line military action that would destroy Iran's oil infrastructure," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

However, Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at online trading and investing platform IG, warned of the dangers posed by falling stockpiles.

"The oil surge has calmed again today, but there is little likelihood of any return to real peace talks in the Middle East. The Straits of Hormuz remain closed, and energy stockpiles are still too low for comfort," Beauchamp said.

Leading Wall Street risers was PayPal, which surged as much as 13 percent on reports payments firm Stripe and private equity group Advent International have made a joint offer to buy the digital payments pioneer in a deal worth a reported $53 billion, with the offer of $60.50 a share.

That is a premium of some 28 percent over Tuesday's closing price but far below where PayPal traded just a year ago.

The deal would still rank among the largest fintech acquisitions ever, uniting Stripe's payments infrastructure -- widely used by online businesses -- with PayPal's massive consumer and merchant base.

In Europe, London and Frankfurt ended the day lower. Paris managed a small gain.

In Asia, Seoul closed up more than six percent on the back of an 8.8-percent rally in chip giant SK hynix.

With tech stocks still the hot ticket, Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading platform, warned that "the AI stock market rally has a ‘winner takes all’ mentality right now."

Brooks warned companies that were AI laggards or looked like they will be left behind by the AI boom were getting sold off, while investors also remain concerned about the high valuations and the vast sums being spent on artificial intelligence, amid some painful selloffs.

"AI uncertainty remains one of the major themes for markets as we lead up to some key tech earnings reports in the coming weeks," said Brooks.

While tech stocks led the gains in Asia, tech stocks were down overall on Wall Street, with the Philadelphia semiconductor sector index that includes leading chipmakers down more than four percent.

- Key figures around 1530 GMT -

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.2 percent at $83.74 a barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.8 percent at $78.69 a barrel

New York - Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 52,688.11 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 7,561.76

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 26,211.22

London - FTSE 100: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 10,511.42 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 8,379.43 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.6 percent at 25,018.81 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.5 percent at 68,751.51 (close)

Seoul - Kospi: UP 6.2 percent at 7,284.41 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.4 percent at 24,618.10 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,955.58 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1425 from $1.1423 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3479 from $1.3386

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 162.14 yen from 162.18 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.89 pence from 85.33 pence

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