GLOBAL MARKETS-Global stocks mixed, oil falls on peace optimism

* Stocks mixed, oil pulls back

* Hopes for US-Iran agreement grow

* Yen stable after spikes, intervention ​jitters persist (Updates pricing, ⁠Iran war context after European morning)

LONDON, May 7 (Reuters) - Global ​stocks were mixed on Thursday while oil prices sank on optimism over a U.S.-Iran peace deal, even as the fate of the critical Strait of Hormuz appeared unresolved. MSCI's All-Country World Index ​rose ‌0.17% to trade around record highs. Europe's STOXX 600 was 0.25% lower, having jumped 2.2% on Wednesday, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan hit a fresh all-time high. It ⁠was last up 1.7%.

Japan's Nikkei crossed 62,000 for the first time as trading resumed ⁠after an extended holiday weekend.

While the Middle East situation ​was uncertain, "the momentum is going in a good direction" and markets had taken note of it, Lombard Odier chief economist Samy Chaar said.

"So the oil price is down from its highs, which is obviously relieving pressure on yield curves and bond yields, and that is great news for equity valuation and makes currencies move a bit," ​he said.

A strong ‌earnings season and a relatively robust macroeconomic environment added to a positive market mood, Chaar added.

TRUMP PREDICTS SWIFT END TO WAR

The United States and Iran are edging toward a limited, temporary agreement to halt their war, sources and officials said on Thursday, with a draft framework that would stop the fighting but leave the most contentious issues unresolved. Brent crude fell almost 3% to $98.3 a barrel, having tumbled nearly 8% on Wednesday. Even after that slide, Brent is still around ​40% above its late-February level, when the conflict began, while 10-year Treasury yields have surged — a reminder of the strain higher energy costs continue to put on the ‌global economy. On the day, 10-year Treasury yields were last down by 2.2 basis points to 4.334%.

Nick Twidale, chief market strategist at ATFX Global, said the market was wrestling with execution risk, "both in terms of whether a deal is ‌finalised and how quickly disrupted flows would normalise even if it is."

Rocketing oil prices whacked global markets in March but a fragile ceasefire and prospect of a deal have spurred a risk-on rally since April that has been fuelled by strong tech earnings reports.

S&P COMPANIES SET FOR ROBUST PROFIT GROWTH S&P 500 companies ​are on track for their strongest profit growth in more than four years, while blowout results from Samsung , SK Hynix and TSMC have reinforced the upbeat tone in Asia. Investors await the ‌U.S. non-farm payrolls report on Friday, with jobs expected to have increased in April by 62,000 after rebounding 178,000 in March, a Reuters survey of economists shows. In currency markets, the euro nudged higher and last fetched $1.1764. Sterling was slightly higher at $1.3611 as UK local elections came into focus. The dollar index, which measures the U.S. ⁠currency against six units, ⁠was a touch lower at 97.901.

The yen remained in the spotlight after spikes in recent sessions prompted ‌market speculation that Tokyo had intervened to support the long-battered currency. The yen was little changed at 156.35 per dollar, having hit a 10-week high of 155 on Wednesday.

OCBC analysts said intervention was ​unlikely to shift the broader trend without "stronger ​policy support," for example from the BOJ or relief from oil prices and U.S. yields, maintaining a year-end target ‌of 155.

Japan's top currency diplomat Atsushi Mimura said the country faced no constraints on how often it can intervene and was in daily contact with U.S. authorities.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is due to visit Tokyo next week, and analysts expect he will discuss yen moves with his Japanese counterpart, Satsuki Katayama. (Reporting by Sophie Kiderlin in London and Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by Neil Fullick, Bernadette Baum, Elaine Hardcastle)