us stocks were mixed as investors assessed the impact of higher inflation on corporate earnings and ahead of more results from major companies the sp 500 pared gains and slipped 01 while the techfocused nasdaq composite index fell about 12 the dow jones industrial average advanced 07 stocks have had a strong start to the week lifted by earnings reports that showed companies have largely been able to generate growth despite tightening monetary policy and the highest inflation in four decades netflixs report after hours on tuesday disappointed while procter  gamble reported its biggest jump in sales in two decades leading investors to closely scrutinize corporate performance in an environment with rising prices we are living in a year of higher inflation and that will cause problems for some companies said luc filip head of investments at syz private banking what we are trying to assess is really the pricing power of a company and some will see their profitability come under pressure if they dont have this japanese stocks were higher led by gains in electronics and machinery stocks as concerns eased somewhat about borrowing costs meanwhile insurance stocks were lower following falls in us treasury yields overnight earnings were in focus as nidec corp results due later kick off the season for the quarter ended march the nikkei stock average was 06 higher at 2736938 south koreas kospi rose 04 to 272897 in early trade supported by gains in electronics and chemical stocks investors were assessing quarterly results starting to trickle out this week for major companies index heavyweight samsung electronics was 10 higher and memorychip maker sk hynix rose 13 as both tech giants expect solid 1q earnings hong kong stocks declined with the benchmark hang seng index down 03 at 2087144 as technology companies fell tracking losses in the techheavy nasdaq overnight chinas central bank keeping its loan prime rate unchanged was also underwhelming to the market said ig market strategist yeap jun rong in a research note the hang seng tech index fell 15 to 407000 a notable index mover was cnooc rising 23 its ashares rose 44 to hit an upper limit in their trading debut in shanghai chinese stocks were broadly lower in early trade amid mixed trading among other asian equities the shanghai composite index fell 01 to 314678 and the shenzhen composite index declined 04 to 197750 while the chinext price index rose 02 to 236772 rising concerns over a worsethanexpected economic slowdown in 2q are likely to persist as china continues to battle covid19 outbreaks china oil giant cnoocs ashares were halted after rising 44 in their trading debut on the shanghai stock exchange jpy weakened against most g10 and asian currencies amid a mild riskon mood spurred by gains in us stock futures focus was likely to be on the upcoming meeting between japanese finance minister suzuki and us treasury secretary yellen currency coordination will be on the agenda spi asset management managing partner stephen innes said in an email however he was skeptical that anything like a coordinated intervention will occur as the us doesnt necessarily mind a strong dollar at this point not to mention the jpy is weak due to boj policy usdjpy rose 04 to 12840 sgdjpy gained 03 to 9411 and audjpy was up 02 at 9548 gold was lower in early asian trading weighed by expectations of hawkishness on the part of the us federal reserve said dailyfxcom analyst richard snow in a research note st louis fed president bullard is opening the door to a 75 basis point hike compared with broader expectations of a 50 basis point rise snow said also bullard mentioned his preference for interest rates to rise to 35 by year end while the markets have thus far priced in around 25 to 275 he said these factors are negative for bullion as it is a noninterestbearing asset spot gold was 01 lower at 195569 a troy ounce oil rose as investors took stock of the effect of russias invasion of ukraine and the loss of russian crude supply on oil markets commonwealth bank of australia analysts said in a research note pressure in europe to impose formal sanctions on russian oil is also mounting adding to price tailwinds data showing an 8 million barrel fall in us crude oil stocks last week are also supporting prices the cba analysts added frontmonth brent gained 05 to 10738bbl the wti contract rose 03 to 10252bbl