Asia shares ease on tech pullback, oil stable as Iran talks stay in focus

Asia shares ease on tech pullback, oil stable as Iran talks stay in focus TOKYO, Aug 6 : Asian shares took a breather on Thursday after an AI-driven surge the previous day, while oil prices traded in a tight range as markets assessed prospects for an Iran peace deal. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.69 per cent, led by declines in tech firms. South Korean shares dropped 3.64 per cent while Japan's Nikkei lost 1.57 per cent. In Seoul, Samsung Electronics fell 2.44 per cent and peer SK Hynix lost 6.95 per cent. In Tokyo, Kioxia plunged 9.61 per cent, while Tokyo Electron slumped 4.61 per cent. The pullback followed a weaker session on Wall Street overnight, where the Nasdaq snapped a days-long winning streak as shares of Elon Musk-led SpaceX and Advanced Micro Devices stumbled after their quarterly earnings. Although the AI and satellite company highlighted faster-than-expected returns from its AI spending, investors remained concerned about how long its profitable Starlink business could continue to bankroll costly investments in data centres. And while AMD's results beat analysts' estimates, they fell short of investors' lofty expectations. A senior Iranian source and two regional officials told Reuters that a proposed deal between Iran and Oman to help end five months of war between Iran and the United States would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the biggest concessions yet to Iran. Oil prices were steady in the $70-a-barrel range. Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell to $79.31 per barrel, down 0.18 per cent. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 edged 0.35 per cent down to $74.96 a barrel. Madison Cartwright, senior geo-economics analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be reached by early September, though he remained sceptical that a deal was imminent. "Iran still has more leverage and will extract additional concessions from the U.S. under any new deal," Cartwright said in a note. Investors are now turning their attention to U.S. labour market data ahead of Friday's closely watched nonfarm payrolls report. ADP figures on Wednesday showed private employers added 44,000 workers last month, slowing from 95,000 in June and coming in about 25,000 below expectations. Economists polled by Reuters expect the government's report to show the U.S. economy added 80,000 jobs in July, after a 57,000 gain in June, with the unemployment rate forecast to hold steady at 4.2 per cent. Futures markets are pricing in about a 54 per cent chance of a rate hike at the Federal Reserve's September meeting, down from 58 per cent a day ago, according to the CME's FedWatch tool. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 1.04 basis points to 4.607 per cent. Against the yen, the dollar was steady at 157.66 following a historic currency market intervention. Japan and the U.S. launched a rare joint yen-buying intervention last week and pledged further action if necessary to support the currency. The dollar/yen pair is likely to struggle to find a clear direction, with investors expected to stay largely on the sidelines ahead of Friday's U.S. job report, said Sony Financial Group senior analyst Juntaro Morimoto. Spot gold rose 1.06 per cent to $4,290.26 an ounce, while spot silver gained 0.65 per cent to $62.48 an ounce. [Image text:] 1277 1260 Ke 2633 5555 -83 2621.0 BHD 2664.0 .0 SME 2704 DeNA -60. 38 2680. ES 688 2598.0 93- 15 3 INPEX CHYSVE 3378 5350 14710 3178 149 S 14690 50 RAI FAKADX 2690. 3296 9 43 729 3265 4304 G D I6ZU- 361 17 6050 1586. 29 15 19 SPE OSS #UHD PtE 1503 Sso 2720.0 5291 -6 SO 2655.0 2 1485. 250 A57HD 60 94720 2075. 6609 0 660 10 2 08 205 6040 3703 2352 2 24 - 2340 1641. o5055 IC 2 164 2200.0 333 5o 2178.0 BE ZOZO 1091.0 1079 1091 Ou 1070. E 1177. 20 861 SHIFT 637 *y- 9) 3722 +23 3736 749 3663 RSTHD 1320. 0 99E5 334 34 316 1751 05055 1767 1744 FHD 94302 787 1761 -3 744 768. 1730.0 t9HD 185 8 30 18000 7&I-HD 191 12. 190 19 SUMCO 4155 50 43 4108 5oonm O. It 77 2 2 3004 70 o5 2404. E#EY -61 99 ENG 1104. 5o 0 103 640 UBE 3196