* Nikkei and Kospi gain, Nasdaq futures edge up

* Oil firm amid confusion over Gulf peace talks

* Market pares US rate risk as CPI test looms

(Adds JPMorgan EPS target in paragraph 16)

By Wayne Cole

SYDNEY, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Asian share markets tracked Wall

Street higher on Monday after a soft U.S. jobs report pared the

risk of a near-term rise in borrowing costs, though a lack of

progress in Gulf peace talks saw oil prices creep higher.

Iran said on Sunday that a deal with Oman defining new

shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz was in its final stages

but reiterated that the waterway would only reopen once the

United States met other conditions.

Brent crude added 0.6% to $84.04 a barrel as

shipping through the vital waterway remained at a trickle, while

U.S. crude rose 0.5% to $78.56 a barrel.

The latest revival in fuel costs raises the stakes for the

U.S. July consumer price report due on Wednesday where analysts

are looking for a rise of 0.1% in the headline and 0.2% for the

core.

Any upside surprise could rekindle speculation of a hike

from the Federal Reserve next month.

"Our forecast for core CPI of 0.22% is probably not quite

firm enough to prompt a hike from the Fed at the September

meeting, though repeated prints closer to 0.3% could do it,"

said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan.

"One thing we are watching for is any rebound in core goods

prices after a two-month stretch in which they fell."

The futures market has scaled back the chance of a

September move to around 45%, from 67% a week ago.

The pullback in rate risk helped Treasuries rally on Friday

and saw Wall Street close at record highs. Japan's Nikkei

followed that lead to rise 2.0%, while South Korea

added 0.8%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

edged up 0.7%.

Chinese blue chips eased 0.7% after data showed

consumer and producer price inflation came in under forecasts in

July, underlining the softness of domestic demand.

DOUBLE-DIGIT EARNINGS GROWTH

For Europe, EUROSTOXX 50 futures and DAX futures

were both flat, while FTSE futures fell 0.4%.

S&P 500 futures gained 0.1%, while Nasdaq futures

firmed 0.3%, having climbed 5% last week amid a slew of

upbeat earnings reports.

Analysts at BofA noted that with nearly 90% of S&P 500

results in, earnings per share were up 30% on the year after

excluding investment gains at Alphabet and Amazon. A 76% EPS

beat rate matched the strongest level since 2021.

"AI remains the stand out, with median EPS growth of 28%

versus 12% for non-AI-related stocks, though consensus expects

AI to slow to 16% next quarter," they said in a note.

Analysts at JPMorgan revised up their 2026 EPS estimate to

$365, marking annual growth of 35%, and lifted their S&P 500

price target to 8,000 from 7,800.

Earnings are lighter this week but include semiconductor

company Applied Materials ( AMAT ), networking equipment maker

Cisco ( CSCO ) and cloud infrastructure technology company

CoreWeave ( CRWV ).

In bond markets, yields on 10-year Treasuries

were a shade higher at 4.662% with the market bracing for $125

billion in new issuance this week.

The drop in yields and general improvement in risk pulled

the U.S. dollar broadly lower, with the euro just off a

seven-week top at $1.1553.

The dollar added 0.3% on the yen to 158.35, though

investors were still wary of intervention should they push the

yen down too far.

Bank of Japan policymakers warned of mounting inflation

risks that could require a nimble, faster-than-expected pace of

interest rate increases, a summary of opinions at their July

meeting showed, boosting the case for a September hike.

In commodity markets, the drop in yields helped

non-interest-paying gold hold at $4,333 an ounce, having

climbed more than 7% last week.