Sawt Falasteen - Stocks mixed, oil steadies on guarded optimism for Iran ceasefire

A cloud of uncertainty hung Friday over the scheduled start of talks in Pakistan this weekend to turn a shaky two-week truce into a lasting accord that would reopen the key Strait of Hormuz.

But there has been no announcement yet on the arrival of negotiators and both sides have accused the other of failing to properly implement the ceasefire.

"Investors remained cautious as they kept a close eye on developments surrounding the fragile ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran," said David Morrison, an analyst at Trade Nation, adding that investors were pausing "to catch their collective breath heading into the weekend".

The main international oil contracts were little changed, holding just under $100 a barrel even as only a trickle of tankers have so far transited the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world's oil passes in normal times.

Stocks opened little changed in New York, while Europe's main indices showed more solid gains in afternoon trading.

New York shares had rebounded late in their session Thursday on news that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to talks, upping the chances for the ceasefire after five weeks of fighting.

But despite this week's rebound, stock markets remain lower and oil prices significantly higher than before the war.

Investors were also watching US inflation and the prospects for interest rates in the world's largest economy as the Gulf war sends economic shock waves through myriad sectors.

Consumer prices rose 3.3 percent in March from a year earlier, according to data released Friday, and while that was up sharply from the previous month as gas prices surged, it was below what some economists expected.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile categories like food and energy, rose 2.6 percent from a year ago, again lower than what some analysts had feared.

A higher rate might have ruled out any interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve for several months.

"The equity futures market, subdued ahead of the report, took a liking to the better-than-feared core inflation headline," said Patrick J. O'Hare, an analyst at Briefing.com.

But he warned that "although core inflation was seemingly subdued in March, the concern is that the energy price shock will bleed through more to core inflation in April".

- Key figures at around 1340 GMT -

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.2 percent at $95.69 a barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $98.10 a barrel

New York - Dow Jones: DOWN 0.2 percent at 48,093.17 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.1 percent at 6,833.07

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 22,939.17

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 10,626.34

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 8,285.29

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.7 percent at 23,961.08

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.8 percent at 56,924.11 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 25,893.54 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,986.22 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1730 from $1.1707 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3475 from $1.3441

Dollar/yen: UP at 159.13 yen from 159.06 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 87.10 pence from 87.09 pence

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K.Hassan--SF-PST