Oil prices rose on Tuesday and stocks were mixed, as investor optimism over a US-Iran peace deal was tempered by new US strikes in the Middle East.
Iran's top negotiator and foreign minister were in Doha for talks with Qatar's prime minister on a potential deal. However, Washington and Tehran played down hopes for an imminent breakthrough.
Nikkei newspaper reported that both parties discussed opening the Strait of Hormuz about 30 days after reaching a deal to end hostilities.
But even as talks proceeded, US forces conducted strikes in southern Iran against targets including boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites, in what they described as defensive actions.
Brent futures rose over 1% in early Asian trade to $97.32 a barrel. US WTI crude was slightly up from Monday's last traded price but down 5.5% from Friday's close.
"I'm a bit sceptical... We keep being told there's a deal that's near, but what does the deal look like? When's the Strait of Hormuz going to open? There's a lot we don't know," said Joseph Capurso, strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.8%, while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.2%. Nasdaq futures trimmed earlier gains to trade 0.9% higher, while S&P 500 futures rose 0.68%.
EUROSTOXX 50 futures eased 0.36%, while FTSE futures added 0.4% and DAX futures lost 0.43%.
"The market wants to believe that it's all going to end soon, because the war not ending is quite bad for the world economy," said Capurso.
The dollar steadied on renewed safe-haven demand. The euro fell 0.06% to $1.1636, sterling eased to $1.3498, and the dollar was flat against the yen at 158.95.
Bonds were largely steady. The two-year US Treasury yield was little changed at 4.0612%, while the 10-year yield fell to 4.5024%.
Spot gold was down 0.5% at $4,545.90 an ounce.
