Sawt Falasteen - European stocks drop as oil prices rise

Seoul led gains across Asian equity indices as tech firms rebounded, helped by a softer-than-expected US inflation print that soothed worries about a possible interest rate hike this month that could weigh on the Al-linked sector.

"The divergence between... (equity market) seems to be driven mainly by technology stocks, which are outperforming again," noted Swissquote bank analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.

The mood in Asia had also been lifted by strong Wall Street earnings Tuesday, while US President Donald Trump's U-turn on threats to impose levies on cargo through the Strait of Hormuz provided some support.

Still, oil prices extended their rally Wednesday as American forces again hit sites in Iran and Trump reimposed a naval blockade of ships sailing to and from the country's ports.

Asian stocks enjoyed a much-needed rally following a painful selloff in recent weeks as tech firms were battered by concerns over extended valuations and the vast sums invested in artificial intelligence.

China's leading memory chipmaker became the latest company to seek huge investment to grow.

ChangXin Memory Technologies is seeking to raise up to $9.8 billion in an initial public offering as China counts on homegrown hardware to boost its position in the artificial intelligence race.

It comes as shares in Dutch tech giant ASML rose more than three percent, as Europe's biggest company by market value said strong demand for AI systems pushed up its sales forecasts and drove a gain in second-quarter profits.

Seoul's stock market, which has borne the brunt of recent losses for the tech sector, jumped as much as seven percent at one point Wednesday before paring the gains.

That came on the back of an 8.8-percent rally in chip giant SK hynix.

There were gains also for stock markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok, Jakarta and Manila.

Shanghai dipped as data showed China's economy grew slower than expected in the second quarter.

Also lifting sentiment were banking giants JP Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo all reporting higher quarterly profits.

However, shares in IBM collapsed more than 25 percent Tuesday after the computing giant released poorly-received earnings.

The dollar was mixed against main rivals as expectations of a US rate hike this month receded.

Still, Federal Reserve boss Kevin Warsh gave a warning of caution, saying that US central bank officials have "no tolerance" for stubbornly high prices.

"What I'd say is there's plenty of work to do," he said Tuesday.

- Key figures around 1100 GMT -

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.1 percent at $85.63 a barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.0 percent at $80.10 a barrel

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 10,507.69 points

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,350.51

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.8 percent at 24,949.34

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)

New York - Dow: FLAT at 52,508.27 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1416 from $1.1423 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3391 from $1.3386

Dollar/yen: UP at 162.41 yen from 162.18 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.26 pence from 85.33 pence

burs-bcp/spm

G.AbuOdeh--SF-PST