European and Japanese stocks rose in Friday trading, supported by lower oil prices and demand for chipmakers and artificial-intelligence companies, with the European STOXX 600 gaining 0.7% to 640.66 points and Japan's Nikkei closing 1.30% higher at 66364.20 points.
European gains led by travel and leisure
The STOXX 600 was on track for its first weekly gain after three consecutive weeks of losses, as most European bourses rose. Ryanair and Lufthansa shares each climbed more than 2%, benefiting from lower fuel costs, while the travel and leisure sector index gained 1.2%.
Energy shares, meanwhile, were among the biggest decliners, falling 0.7%. Germany's DAX rose 0.6%, despite a survey showing that consumer confidence in Germany had declined more sharply than expected after higher energy prices weighed on households' income expectations.
Shares in Finnish industrial equipment maker Konecranes jumped 5.1% after the company launched a share-buyback programme and raised its financial targets.
Oil falls as markets await negotiations
Oil prices fell in Friday trading as markets focused on the possibility of a truce between the United States and Iran, outweighing concerns that escalating attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia could disrupt supplies.
Brent crude fell 40 cents, or 0.4%, to $106.20 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell $1.02, or 1.1%, to $93.59 a barrel. Since the start of the week, Brent has risen 2.2 % so far, while WTI has fallen 6.8%.
Sources close to the talks aimed at ending the war said U.S. and Iranian negotiators were discussing in New York the possibility of a phased path to ending the war, including Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and Washington lifting the economic blockade imposed on Iran.
At this stage, neither Iran nor the United States has an interest in a more intense and less controllable war.. The next few days could represent a turning point in the Iran war
Chip and bank shares support Tokyo stocks
The Nikkei rose for a fifth consecutive session, posting gains of more than 2% since the start of the week, which had fewer trading days because of holidays. The broader Topix index rose 1.31% to 4128.59 points.
Daisuke Hashizume, chief economist at Daiwa Securities, said investors had bought shares to secure their entitlement to dividends before the deadline for qualifying for semiannual dividends expired on Monday, adding that demand for chip-related shares supported the market.
Bank shares posted the best performance among the 33 Tokyo Stock Exchange sector subindices, rising 4.08%. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group shares climbed 3.95%, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group shares rose 3.59%.
Shares of chipmakers Tokyo Electron and Advantest rose 4.82% and 2.84%, respectively, supporting the Nikkei. Shares in Ibiden, which manufactures components for central processing units, also rose 4.2%, following a 14.57% jump in the previous session.
A total of 171 Nikkei shares rose, compared with 51 decliners, while three were unchanged. SoftBank Group, which invests in the technology sector, fell 3.18% after Oracle shares dropped 3%, following a report that Oracle had declared force majeure for its Blue Owl unit, which is developing a massive data centre in New Mexico, citing possible delays in securing power for the project.
