Sawt Falasteen - Stocks tread water with earnings, tech in focus

Oil prices edged higher, with the Brent crude contract just back over $80, as investors sought confirmation that a deal was progressing.

But main stock indices were mostly little changed, with the Dow flat almost half an hour into Wall Street trading while the broader based S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq added around 0.2 percent in a cautious start.

London was flat, Paris was leading the pack with a 0.8 percent rise and Frankfurt was just 0.2 percent ahead less than two hours from the close.

Alcoholic drinks maker Diageo jumped seven percent to top London's FTSE 100 index as it unveiled a major cost-cutting plan to help reverse sliding profit.

Shares in the German industrial giant Siemens fell five percent in Frankfurt, but pulled around half of that back, after its profit forecasts fell short of investors' hopes.

In Asia, tech-heavy indices were weighed down by concerns over profitability of AI investments after disappointing earnings from US giants SanDisk and Western Digital.

A sharp decline in shares of Elon Musk's SpaceX on Wednesday also soured the mood, after its earnings results raised worries about huge AI spending.

Tech stocks had staged a rally earlier this week after a month-long rout that slashed billions of dollars off valuations.

Seoul, the poster child of the sell-off since June, shed more than four percent on Thursday, led by a 10 percent plunge in SK hynix and Samsung's loss of more than six percent.

Tokyo's Nikkei, another tech-heavy index, lost nearly one percent, with chipmaker Kioxia down more than 10 percent and Tokyo Electron more than five percent lower.

Declines were also seen in Hong Kong, Wellington, Manila and Taipei, though Shanghai, Sydney and Singapore rose.

Easing tensions in the Middle East and a potential US-Iran deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz have helped keep a lid on oil prices and tempered inflation and rate hike concerns.

Iran said Wednesday that it had agreed a route with Oman for ships transiting the waterway and were adding the final touches to arrangements for jointly managing it.

Official sources briefing Iranian media said any reopening would depend on the United States fulfilling what Tehran sees as its commitment to end its own naval blockade of Iran's ports.

"Caution in the oil price today is a sign that the market needs confirmation from the White House that this is all true, and the prospects of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is not a false dawn," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at traders XTB.

Investors are keenly awaiting the release of key US jobs data on Friday, hoping for an idea about the state of the economy as the Federal Reserve plots its next moves on borrowing costs.

Figures on Wednesday showed hiring in the US private sector was significantly below expectations in July, with industries such as leisure and hospitality shedding jobs.

- Key figures around 1545 GMT -

New York - DOW: FLAT at 54,331.40 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 7,738.00

New York - NASDAQ Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 26,437.30

London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 10,888.55 points

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.8 percent at 8,734.86

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 26,158.86

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 65,683.26 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.5 percent at 25,530.28 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 3,900.35 (close)

Seoul - Kospi: DOWN 4.6 percent at 6,296.38 (close)

Dollar/yen: UP at 157.89 yen from 157.79 yen on Wednesday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1539 from $1.1549

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3469 from $1.3463

Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.67 pence at 85.78 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.7 percent at $80.77 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.1 percent at $76.07 per barrel

X.Habash--SF-PST