Asian shares steady, oil declines amid West Asia tensions

Asian shares gained slightly even as traders remained cautious ahead of the megacap tech results this week.

Oil prices fell from their highest close from mid-June as an escalation in West Asia hostilities renewed inflation worries.

South Korea's Kospi index was flat while Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 1.4%. US equity index futures were down 0.1%.

Brent crude declined 0.4% to $88.86 a barrel.

Elevated oil rates and West Asia tensions are giving traders a renewed reason for caution. Investors are now looking at the megacap tech results this week for clues on if the AI-driven rally this year can be sustained.

Tesla, Alphabet are among the firms reporting their results on Wednesday, while Microsoft, meta, Apply and Amazon will report their numbers next week.