Business and finance news from the Asia-Pacific.

Oil extended its recent gains as Iran rejected talks with the US and a deal to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz remained elusive. Treasuries declined. Meanwhile, a gauge of Asian stocks rose 0.4%, with gains for South Korean and Japanese chipmakers. The Kospi Index climbed as much as 2% before trimming its advance, with SK Hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. among the winners. The move followed Friday's Wall Street rally after soft US jobs data lifted equities, sending the S&P 500 Index to a record high. Bloomberg's Haidi Stroud-Watts spoke to Jasmine Duan, Senior Investment Strategist at RBC Wealth Management Asia.

And prices paid by US consumers probably inched up marginally last month after falling for the first time in six years, a welcome tempering in recent war-driven inflationary pressures. The closely watched consumer price index is seen rising 0.1% in July following a 0.4% decline in the prior month, based on the median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists ahead of Wednesday's Bureau of Labor Statistics release. In the wake of Friday's weak July jobs report, the moderation in price growth may help alleviate some of the inflation anxiety at the Federal Reserve after three officials dissented on July 29 in favor of raising interest rates. Bloomberg's Haidi Stroud-Watts spoke to Illiana Jain, International Economist at Westpac.