Chipmakers weigh on stocks, oil edges higher

LONDON/SYDNEY, July 16 : European markets edged lower on Thursday following more overnight volatility in Asia’s tech-dominated indexes, while benign U.S. inflation data helped keep the dollar and government bond yields under control, as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran nudged oil prices up again.Despite stellar results from Taiwanese chip giant TSMC, South Korea's KOSPI fell 6 per cent. The index doubled in value during the first half of the year, but has now slumped nearly 20 per cent this month as doubts have crept in.Europe's STOXX 600 also moved lower. The tech bulls were putting up a fight thanks to gains for ASML in Amsterdam. That was more than offset by declines of 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent in other sectors like utilities and telecoms.Oil prices edged higher again after more overnight