Asian stocks were mostly lower and oil prices extended their gains on Friday as talks on ending the war against Iran remained stalled.
US futures edged lower after Wall Street pulled back from its all-time highs.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.6%, led by heavy buying of technology stocks. On Thursday, it hit a record intraday high.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.8% while the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.5%.
South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.4%, and in Australia the S+P/ASX 200 dropped 0.6%, the Associated Press reports.
Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 2.5% as chipmaker TSMC – which makes up a key part of the index – gained more than 4%.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil to be delivered in June rose 3.1% on Thursday to settle at $105.07, and at one point topped $107. The price for a barrel of Brent to be delivered in July, which is the more popular contract for traders, settled at $99.35 after rising as high as $101.
Early on Friday Brent crude was up 0.4% at $99.70 a barrel, while US benchmark crude was up 0.6% to $96.62 a barrel.
