Oil prices

Oil prices were trading near a three-month low on Monday after Libyan ports were reopened. Early on Tuesday prices edged up from their lows as an oil worker strike in Norway intensified, with more workers going on strike.

Brent crude futures had climbed 28 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $72.12 a barrel by 0331 GMT. They fell 4.6 percent on Monday, at one point touching their lowest since mid-April.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were down 1 cent at $68.05. They fell 4.2 percent on Monday.

“The threat of further supply disruptions hasn’t totally evaporated,” ANZ said in a morning note, according to a Reuters report.

ANZ also said that “production from Libya remains susceptible to further declines, despite its ports reopening”.

Global markets

Asian shares dropped on Tuesday as a sharp decline in oil prices in the previous session weighed on sentiment.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.1 pct lower following two sessions of gains.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow edged up 0.2 percent but the S&P 500 lost 0.1 percent as energy shares were hit by the drop in oil that offset a jump in financials.

“Crude has been rising steadily so some kind of adjustment was due. From this context the impact on the broader economy, inflation and therefore the stock markets should be limited,” Soichiro Monji, senior economist at Daiwa SB Investments in Tokyo, told Reuters.

“The stock markets have been quite steady recently, and this shows that investors are starting to look beyond the U.S. midterm elections, by then which President (Donald) Trump’s posturing is expected to have peaked out.”

Middle East markets

Most stock markets in the Middle East rose on Monday. The attention shifted from oil prices to second quarter earnings.

Abu Dhabi's main index added 1.1 percent. First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) closed up 2 percent, Emirates Telecom (Etisalat) up 1.8 percent, and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) up 1.6 percent.

ADIB reported on Monday a 3.8-percent second-quarter profit rise to 572.7 million dirhams (155.9 million dollars).

Dubai’s index added 0.7 percent, Emaar Properties closed up 2.8 percent while Emaar Malls fell 0.5 percent. Emaar Malls said after the market closed it had appointed former Marks & Spencer executive Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne as its new CEO.

Saudi Arabia’s index added 1 percent, Al Rajhi Bank rose 1.9 percent, while National Commercial Bank rose 1.7 percent, and Samba Financial Group edged up 2.7 percent.

Qatar's benchmark index added 1.1 percent with petrochemicals, metals and fertiliser producer Industries Qatar closing 4.7 percent higher.

Qatar Commercial Bank rose 1.2 percent and Vodafone Qatar climbed 3.1 percent.

Egypt’s index fell 1.2 percent, Kuwait’s index rose 1.0 percent while Oman’s index fell 0.2 percent and Bahrain’s index rose 0.6 percent.

Currencies

The dollar gained against its peers early on Tuesday with investors awaiting Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony on the economy and monetary policy before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee at 1400 GMT.

The dollar edged 0.02 percent higher against a basket of six major currencies to 94.529. The dollar strengthened 0.2 percent against the yen to 112.41 yen

“It seems that the markets are focusing on whether or not the trade war between the U.S. and China may affect the outlook for the Fed’s tightening,” Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at Mizuho Securities, told Reuters.

“Powell, who is Republican and close to the Trump administration, will not stress much about the negative side of the U.S.-China trade war,” said Yamamoto, who expects dollar-yen to strengthen to 115 at a “very slow” pace.

Precious metals

Gold prices held steady early on Tuesday on a stronger dollar.

Spot gold was steady at $1,239.60 an ounce at 0039 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for August delivery were unchanged at $1,239.70 an ounce.

Gain a deeper understanding of financial markets through Thomson Reuters Eikon.

(Writing Gerard Aoun; Editing by Shane McGinley)
(gerard.aoun@thomsonreuters.com)

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