Asian stock markets traded mostly higher on Thursday despite renewed pressure from rising oil prices, as escalating conflict involving Iran pushed Brent crude to $98 per barrel. Investors also continued to monitor corporate earnings and inflation risks linked to higher energy costs.

Asian Markets Advance

South Korea's Kospi jumped 4.4% to 7,096.89, led by renewed investor demand for artificial intelligence-related stocks despite losses on Wall Street.

Samsung Electronics gained 3.7%, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix advanced 4.9%.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.5% to 66,422.60, with technology shares leading gains. SoftBank Group climbed 3.8%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 1% to 25,147.76, while China's Shanghai Composite recovered from earlier losses to close 0.3% higher at 3,876.78.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.2% to 8,839.00. Taiwan's Taiex edged up 0.1%, while India's Sensex declined 0.6%.

Yen Weakens as Dollar Strengthens

The U.S. dollar traded at 163.17 Japanese yen, with the yen hovering near its weakest level in four decades.

Expectations that U.S. interest rates will remain higher than Japan's, driven by stronger U.S. inflation, have continued to support the dollar against the Japanese currency.

Wall Street Mixed Ahead of Earnings

U.S. stock indexes closed little changed on Wednesday as oil prices climbed 3%.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% to 7,498.96, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down less than 0.1% to 52,218.58.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6% to 25,690.90.

Alphabet, Google's parent company, lost 1.5% before releasing quarterly earnings. Although the company reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter results, reflecting gains from its artificial intelligence investments, its shares fell an additional 2.9% in after-hours trading.

Tesla declined 1.3% during regular trading and dropped another 4.1% after the market closed after reporting lower quarterly profits, as increased spending on research and development weighed on earnings despite stronger vehicle sales.

Micron Technology also remained volatile, finishing down 1.2% after fluctuating between gains and losses during the session. Despite recent swings, the chipmaker's shares remain up 236% this year.

Oil Prices Surge as Conflict Escalates

Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 3.8% early Thursday to $97.61 per barrel, its highest level since early June.

The benchmark had traded below $72 earlier this month before renewed fighting involving Iran disrupted energy markets.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 3% to $89.39 per barrel.

Continued hostilities have prevented oil tankers from freely using the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of globally traded oil and natural gas normally passes.

The U.S. military announced Wednesday that it had carried out a 12th consecutive night of strikes against Iran as both sides increasingly targeted civilian infrastructure.

Inflation Concerns Return

Higher oil prices have renewed concerns that inflation could accelerate again, potentially prompting the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks to keep interest rates elevated or raise them further.

Higher borrowing costs could slow economic growth and weigh on equity markets.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.65%, up from 4.63% the previous day and from 3.97% before the conflict with Iran intensified. Rising Treasury yields have also pushed long-term U.S. mortgage rates to their highest levels in nearly a year.

In currency trading, the euro strengthened slightly to $1.1425 from $1.1414.