World Shares Mixed on US, Iran Strikes 07/13 04:51

   Oil prices jumped and world shares were mixed on Monday after the U.S. 
carried out airstrikes and Iran retaliated.

   BANGKOK (AP) -- Oil prices jumped and world shares were mixed on Monday 
after the U.S. carried out airstrikes and Iran retaliated.

   In early European trading, Germany's DAX added 0.2% to 25,105.55 and the CAC 
40 in Paris edged 0.1% higher, to 8,347.26. Britain's FTSE 100 also was up just 
0.1%, at 10,506.86.

   U.S. stock futures were mixed, with the contract for the S&P 500 down 0.3% 
and that for the Dow nearly unchanged. The Nasdaq composite future lost 0.9%.

   The price of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed as much as 
nearly 5% early Monday before falling back. As of early morning in Europe, it 
was up 2.3% at $77.72 per barrel, while U.S. benchmark crude added 2.1% to 
$72.92 per barrel.

   Prices for both types of crude oil recently had slipped back to around the 
levels they were at before the war with Iran began after the two sides set an 
interim agreement on ending the conflict and ships resumed transporting oil 
through the Strait of Hormuz.

   However, the United States launched several waves of strikes on Iran into 
Monday morning over an Iranian attack on a container ship in the strait that 
set it ablaze and left a crew member missing over the weekend. Iran retaliated 
by targeting countries across the Middle East.

   In Asian share trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 1.9% to 67,242.73, 
while in Seoul, the Kospi declined 9% to 6,806.93. It's now at its lowest level 
since early May.

   Shares in South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix, which soared 13% in their 
debut Friday on Wall Street, slumped 15.4% in Seoul. Its bigger rival Samsung 
Electronics sank 10.7%.

   Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged 0.2% higher, to 24,212.36, 
and the Shanghai Composite index shed 2.1% to 3,913.79.

   In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was nearly unchanged at 8,808.50.

   U.S. stocks ticked higher Friday after investors showed sustained appetite 
for winners of the artificial-intelligence boom. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the 
Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.3%.

   SK Hynix's shares jumped immediately after trading began in the midday hours 
after it raised roughly $26.5 billion by selling American depositary shares at 
a price of $149 each.

   SK Hynix's stock in Seoul had already surged more than 600% over the last 
year thanks to euphoria around AI. The boom has created real profits due to 
surging demand for computer memory. But it has also raised worries that AI 
stock prices have shot have too high and that all the world's spending on chips 
and data centers won't be able to produce enough productivity and profit growth 
to make it worth it.

   "The reason why this stock, along with other memory chipmakers, has gone 
parabolic is that AI demand has somehow created the perception that a sector 
historically defined by boom-and-bust cycles could remain permanently in the 
boom phase," Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote said in a commentary.

   SK Hynix plans to double its production capacity, or possibly more, to keep 
up with demand. However, "Technological breakthroughs, more efficient AI models 
or simply a slowdown in AI infrastructure investment could quickly turn the 
market into one of oversupply," she said.

   Similar concerns apply to many AI stocks as they've grown into some of Wall 
Street's most influential because of their huge valuations. Beyond that, 
investors will be focusing on earnings reports, watching to see if corporate 
profits are growing fast enough to justify big gains in stock prices, which are 
broadly near records.

   This week will bring earnings reports from many of the biggest U.S. banks, 
including Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Wells 
Fargo on Tuesday alone.

   Meanwhile, worries about how continued fighting with Iran will affect the 
global flow of crude are clouding the outlook both for energy costs and overall 
inflation.

   High bond yields have been weighing on financial markets worldwide since 
more expensive oil and high inflation could push the Federal Reserve and other 
central banks to raise interest rates.

   Higher rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow the economy and 
hurt prices for all kinds of investments.

   In other dealings early Monday, the U.S. dollar rose to 162.01 Japanese yen 
from 161.72 yen. The euro rose to $1.1435 from $1.1408.