Sawt Falasteen - Oil price shoots up as stocks tread water

With traders awaiting developments surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, the main oil contracts rose, Brent crude adding three percent to almost $82, while the main US contract WTI added 2.3 percent to nearly $77.

Wall Street was in cautious mode with the Dow starting off flat then dropping 0.6 percent two hours into the session.

The broader based S&P 500 was off 0.2 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched just into the green.

European main indices closed mixed with London's FTSE 100 losing 0.2 percent while Frankfurt added 0.1 percent and Paris 0.4 percent though fresh highs proved elusive.

"Rising oil prices have crimped some of the optimism seen earlier in the week -- but the price is still much lower than a week ago, providing a positive tailwind as we move into the second week of August," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading and investing platform IG.

Alcohol giant Diageo jumped seven percent to top London's FTSE 100 index as it unveiled a major cost-cutting plan aiming to reverse sliding profits.

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

In Asia, tech-heavy indices were weighed down by concerns over the 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 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.

Hong Kong, Wellington, Manila and Taipei fell, but Shanghai, Sydney and Singapore rose.

With the Middle East conflict still casting a shadow, Iran said Wednesday 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 considers a commitment to end 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.

- Key figures around 1745 GMT -

New York - DOW: DOWN 0.6 percent at 54,063.77 points

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,711.42

New York - NASDAQ Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 26,405.00

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 10,867.89 points (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 8,699.71 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 26,140.18 (close)

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 158.39 yen from 157.79 yen on Wednesday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1523 from $1.1549

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3454 from $1.3463

Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.65 pence at 85.78 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 3.0 percent at $81.81 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.3 percent at $76.96 per barrel

R.Shaban--SF-PST