Asian stocks climb and oil prices slip as traders monitor Iran war developments

Asian stocks climbed on Friday, supported by buying in technology-related shares after Wall Street’s tech-led rally, while oil prices slipped as traders monitored developments in the Iran war. In South Korea, the Kospi rose 2.5% to 7,475.94, recovering part of earlier losses, and SK Hynix gained 2.2% in Seoul ahead of its Nasdaq debut scheduled for the day. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 increased 1.9% to 69,030.35, with SoftBank Group up 10.5% and Tokyo Electron rising 4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.8% to 24,455.01, while Shanghai Composite fell 0.5% to 4,017.50. Oil moved lower as limited numbers of vessels able to cross the Strait of Hormuz kept supply pressure in view: Brent crude fell 0.3% to $76.07 and U.S. crude shed 0.3% to $71.89. The dollar eased to 161.56 yen, after Japan’s Finance Minister said authorities plan to encourage major pension funds to invest more in domestic yen-denominated assets.