Stocks stumble, oil set for weekly gain on renewed Gulf hostilities

Asian stocks got off to a rocky start on ​Friday as the drag from chipmakers weighed on global equity indexes, while oil prices were set for their sharpest weekly rise ‌in three months as tensions in the Middle East erupted anew. Investors this week rotated out of semiconductor plays into other sectors such as banking after robust earnings from major lenders, leaving Asia vulnerable to the selloff given its heavier exposure to chips. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.06% in early Asia trade while the Nikkei ​slid 2.8%.