Sawt Falasteen - Seoul record leads most Asian markets higher, crude extends losses

The rally in South Korea led gains across most equity markets in Asia, which came as investors looked past ramped up bets this week of a US Federal Reserve interest rate hike before year's end.

The gains also followed a strong lead on Wall Street, where the tech-heavy Nasdaq soared almost two percent thanks to heavyweights including Amazon, Alphabet and Nvidia.

Chip titans SK hynix and Samsung were once again the standout performers in Seoul, which jumped three percent Friday and has rocketed more than 100 percent this year as the AI boom continues apace.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225, which has powered along with the Kospi this year, also rose Friday along with Wellington and Manila. Sydney and Singapore edged down in holiday-thinned trade.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taipei were closed.

The gains were also helped by relief at the end of hostilities between the United States and Iran after presidents Donald Trump and Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding.

That set in motion 60 days of talks on wider issues including Iran's nuclear programme.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Thursday in a written statement that he had approved the deal despite having a "different view", without elaborating.

American forces earlier Thursday lifted their naval blockade of Iranian ports that had prevented ships from sailing to or from the Islamic republic, the US military said, noting that American warships "will remain in the general area".

Three Saudi oil tankers left the Gulf through the strait on Thursday, maritime trackers said.

However, observers have pointed out that while the waterway -- through which a fifth of crude passes -- has reopened, it could take some time before supplies are back up to pre-war levels.

Equity markets have surged this week and crude has tumbled on the back of the deal that was announced last weekend.

"The repricing this week has been drastic and part of that came about because of the resumption of Iranian oil almost instantaneously," Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG, told Bloomberg Television.

"What comes next is the execution risk. There's a lot of details still to be nutted out."

And Forex.com's Fawad Razaqzada said investors would now be able to turn their focus back to the economic outlook and company performance.

"What is almost certain to happen now is that markets will become increasingly data-dependent once again. For now, equity bulls maintain some control," he wrote in a commentary.

"However, with valuations still elevated and a lack of obvious near-term catalysts, the prospect of profit-taking or a modest correction has become more plausible following the Fed’s hawkish pivot."

On currency markets the yen strengthened but remained above 161 per dollar -- and near its weakest level since 1986 -- after this week's jump fuelled by Fed rate hike expectations.

The yen's gains were also helped by comments from Japan's Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama, who warned of "bold action against excessive speculative moves in the foreign-exchange market".

The government spent around 11.7 trillion yen ($72 billion) last month propping up the currency by intervening in financial markets.

The currency was still in trouble despite the Bank of Japan's decision to hike interest rates Tuesday to their highest since 1995.

- Key figures around 0230 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 71,314.67 (break)

Seoul - Kospi: UP 2.3 percent at 8,980.18

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holiday

Shanghai - Composite: Closed for a holiday

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $76.14 a barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $79.62 a barrel

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1456 from $1.1460 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3200 from $1.3206

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 161.20 yen from 161.32 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.76 pence from 86.78 pence

New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 51,564.70 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.0 percent at 10,399.70 (close)

F.Qawasmeh--SF-PST