Sawt Falasteen - Oil rises, stocks mixed as investors eye chances for end of Mideast war

Iran's military threatened on Wednesday to shut down Red Sea trade unless the United States lifted its naval blockade on Tehran's ports, saying the ceasefire was at risk.

The warning came after President Donald Trump indicated peace negotiations could resume this week, and as Iran confirmed the sides had kept talking via Pakistan after a first round of negotiations fell flat.

"Markets are growing increasingly confident that tensions in the Middle East may be heading toward some form of resolution," said Fawad Razaqzada, an analyst at FOREX.com.

"That said, it still feels a touch premature to be pricing in a smooth resolution," he added.

On Wall Street, the Dow was lower in late morning trading but both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite advanced.

Both those indices have returned to levels seen before February 28, when the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran that roiled financial markets. European markets were mostly little changed, holding on to the recent days' gains.

The dollar has also fallen back to pre-war levels, handing back the gains it saw as investors flocked to the safe-haven asset.

A string of solid first-quarter earnings from blue chip companies has also bolstered sentiment that the Middle East war will not derail profits or spending plans that have fuelled equity gains in recent months.

But disappointing sales from French luxury heavyweights Kering and Hermes weighed on the Paris stock market, with both companies citing the impact of fighting in the Gulf.

Kering's first-quarter revenues were down three percent at comparable currency rates, dragged down again by its flagship Gucci brand. Its share price slumped more than nine percent.

Hermes shed more than seven percent after the high-end handbag maker reported sales down 1.4 percent, as a stronger euro made its items more expensive for buyers abroad.

Paris closed the day lower, as did London. Frankfurt managed a small gain.

Most Asian equity markets turned in positive sessions.

- Key figures at 1530 GMT -

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.4 percent at $95.18 a barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.2 percent at $92.35 a barrel

New York - Dow Jones: DOWN 0.4 percent at 48,346.98 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.4 percent at 6,995.92

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 23,869.60

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 10,559.58 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.6 percent at 8,274.57 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP less than 0.1 percent at 24,066.70 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 58,134.24 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.3 percent at 25,947.32 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: FLAT at 4,027.21 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1803 from $1.1797 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3576 from $1.3564

Dollar/yen: UP at 158.92 yen from 158.84 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.94 pence from 86.95 pence

burs-rl/yad

P.Tamimi--SF-PST