Mumbai, Jan. 29 -- Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday, recovering some lost ground after a sluggish start as U.S.-Iran tensions escalated and tech earnings proved to be a mixed bag.

Meanwhile, all eyes are now on Apple after Microsoft's quarterly results highlighted rising costs linked to heavy AI investment.

The dollar weakened, halting Wednesday's bounce, as concerns over the Federal Reserve's independence, combined with ongoing fiscal pressures and tariff worries overshadowed comments from U.S. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent that Washington was still pursuing a "strong dollar policy".

10-year Treasury yields moved higher after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged and upped its assessment of the U.S. economy.

Gold j...