The Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% to around 68,500 on Friday, ending a two-day winning streak as rising oil prices heightened concerns that an escalation in the US-Iran conflict could disrupt Middle East energy supplies and revive inflation pressures. Tokyo’s core inflation accelerated to 2.7% in September, exceeding the Bank of Japan’s 2% target for the first time in nine months, partly reflecting higher oil prices. SoftBank Group completed the third and final $10 billion tranche of its follow-on investment in OpenAI, taking its total investment to $64.6 billion for an ownership stake of about 13%. Kioxia, SoftBank, Taiyo Yuden, Fast Retailing and Toyota all declined. The Nikkei remained on track for a weekly gain of more than 3%, its third consecutive advance.