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- Asian shares drop tracking a drop on Wall Street
- Most Gulf stock markets added gains on Monday
- Oil prices drop on rising U.S. production
- Dollar drops, gold steadies
Global markets
Asian shares dropped in early trading on Tuesday, tracking a retreat on Wall Street overnight as technology shares declined on demand and growth worries. Trade tensions between the United States and China also weighed on stocks.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.9 percent. On Wall Street overnight, the Nasdaq dropped 3 percent.
In Seoul, Samsung Electronics fell 1.8 percent and SK Hynix Inc dropped 2.8 percent, while Japan’s Tokyo Electron was down 1.4 percent, Advantest lost 1.2 percent and Sony Corp shed 2.6 percent.
“The drop by U.S. stocks will cut short any attempt by equity markets to mount a sustained bounce. Investor sentiment has been subdued by lingering weakness in U.S. technology shares,” Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management in Tokyo, told Reuters.
Middle East markets
Saudi Arabia’s index rebounded on Monday to end the day 0.8 percent higher.
National Commercial Bank climbed 2 percent. Saudi Steel Pipes, meanwhile, gained 3.5 percent after it appointed a new chief executive.
Dubai’s index added 0.2 percent with DAMAC Properties rising 1.9 percent and Dar Al Takaful gaining 4.3 percent.
Abu Dhabi’s index gained 0.5 percent as Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank added 4.9 percent. A previously announced decision to let foreigners own up to 25 percent of the bank’s shares took effect on Monday. Previously, only local citizens could own the stock.
Qatar's index rose 1 percent as Industries Qatar gained 2.2 percent and Qatar National Bank added 1.9 percent.
Egypt’s index retreated 0.5 percent after rising in the two previous sessions.
Bahrain’s index edged 0.3 percent lower, Kuwait’s index edged up 0.1 percent, while Oman’s index was flat.
Oil prices
Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday as a surge in the United States’ production weighed on prices.
Brent crude oil futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $66.55 a barrel at 0313 GMT, down 24 cents, or 0.4 percent from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $57.07 per barrel, 13 cents, or 0.2 percent, below their last settlement.
The rise in U.S. production outweighed the higher expected cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
“We expect OPEC to agree to a supply cut at its next official meeting on 6 December,” French bank BNP Paribas said, according to a Reuters report.
“In 2019, we expect WTI to average $69 per barrel and Brent $76 per barrel,” BNP said.
Currencies
The dollar dropped on Tuesday as data showed in the previous session that U.S. home builder sentiment recorded its largest one-month drop in over four-and-a-half years in November.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, hovered near 96.120.
Precious metals
Gold prices steadied on Tuesday on a weaker dollar.
Spot gold inched 0.1 percent lower to $1,222.71 per ounce at 0117 GMT.
U.S. gold futures were down 0.2 percent at $1,223.5 per ounce.
(Reporting by Gerard Aoun; Editing by Shane McGinley)
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