Oil prices edged higher as investors sought confirmation that a deal was progressing. Shares in industrial giant Siemens fell 5 per cent in Frankfurt after its forecasts fell short of investors' hopes. In Asia, tech-heavy indices were weighed down by concerns over the profitability of artificial intelligence investments after disappointing earnings from US giants SanDisk and Western Digital. A sharp decline in shares of Elon Musk's SpaceX on Wednesday also soured the mood, after its earnings results raised worries about huge AI spending. Tech stocks had staged a rally earlier this week, after a month-long rout that slashed billions of dollars off valuations.