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HONG KONG — <\/span>Asian stocks were mixed Monday with markets in Japan and South Korea trading higher, while oil prices edged lower on fresh optimism over progress<\/a> in U.S.-Iran negotiations.<\/p>\n U.S. futures were trading lower.<\/p>\n Tokyo\u2019s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.6% to 72,364.82, after reaching a new all-time record of 72,831.73 during intraday trading, helped by technology stocks that were fueled by excitement over the global artificial intelligence boom.<\/p>\n Japan\u2019s SoftBank Group, the multinational investment holding company with a strong AI focus, rose 2.4%. Chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron was up 2.3%.<\/p>\n South Korea\u2019s Kospi gained 0.4% to 9,084.37 and was trading near its record high levels, led by AI-related shares. Memory chip maker SK Hynix surged 4.7%.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing another strong market today,\u201d Neil Newman, managing director and head of strategy at Astris Advisory Japan, said. He cautioned that the Japanese market is \u201cprobably getting a little stretched\u201d from an investor\u2019s point of view, \u201cespecially with what\u2019s going (on) in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng lost 1% to 23,690.86, while the Shanghai Composite index was 0.2% higher at 4,098.01.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s S&P\/ASX 200 was down 0.1% to 8,822.80.<\/p>\n Taiwan\u2019s Taiex rose 2.8%. India\u2019s Sensex was up 0.6%.<\/p>\n Oil prices fell as talks progressed over a permanent end to the Iran war<\/a>. Brent crude, the international standard, was trading 1.4% lower to $79.42 per barrel. It was at roughly $70 a barrel before the start of the war in late February.<\/p>\n High-level negotiations in Switzerland between the U.S. and Iran concluded early Monday, with lower-level technical talks set for the rest of the week. Meanwhile, while Iran said the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, a key waterway for oil and gas transport, was shut again over the weekend, the U.S. said that traffic had continued.<\/p>\n \u201cMoving towards a more permanent deal will be challenging, with very real risks of a flare-up in hostilities,\u201d ING commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a commentary on Monday.<\/p>\n In the U.S., investors are also monitoring May’s personal consumption expenditures price index, or PCE, the preferred inflation gauge of the Federal Reserve, which is due to be released this Thursday.<\/p>\n In other dealings, the U.S. dollar rose to 161.68 Japanese yen from 161.22 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1454, down from $1.1473.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press senior producer Mayuko Ono in Tokyo contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n