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- Oil prices dropped 7 percent on Tuesday
- Asian shares track oil prices lower
- Middle East markets mostly drop on weaker oil
- Dollar fell, gold prices edge up
Oil prices
Oil prices dropped 7 percent in the previous session and failed to bounce back in early trading on Wednesday as worries about weakening world demand and oversupply weighed on prices.
Brent crude was down 0.2 percent on Wednesday at $65.33 per barrel after plunging 6.8 percent on Tuesday and set an eight-month low of $64.61.
U.S. crude futures dived 7 percent the previous day, suffering their biggest one-day loss in more than three years. On Wednesday, prices were trading at $55.38 per barrel for a loss of 0.55 percent, after reaching one-year low of $54.75 on Tuesday.
“It’s like a run on the bank,” Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago, told Reuters. “It’s getting to the point where it doesn’t seem to be about fundamentals anymore, but a total collapse in price.”
Global markets
Asian shares edged lower in early trading on Wednesday as oil prices plunged.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.4 percent.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow and S&P 500 ended slightly lower as a slump in oil hit energy shares.
“The markets would have reacted more positively to U.S.-China trade and Brexit-related headlines a few months ago,” Makoto Noji, chief currency and foreign bond strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities in Tokyo, told Reuters.
“But currently there is more focus on the possibility of both the U.S. and Chinese leaders maintaining their tough stance, with a compromise eluding them, and Brexit bogging down. Market sentiment is clearly cooling down.”
Middle East markets
Most markets in the Middle East were dragged lower by a drop in oil prices on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia's main index was down 0.3 percent. Saudi Basic Industries lost 0.8 percent, and Al-Rajhi Bank fell 0.7 percent.
Dubai’s index dropped 0.98 percent as a 2.8 percent drop in Emirates NBD’s shares weighed on the index.
Abu Dhabi’s index edged 0.3 percent higher as First Abu Dhabi Bank gained 0.7 percent.
Qatar’s index dropped 0.96 percent with Masraf Al Rayan dropping 2.5 percent and Industries Qatar slipping 2.1 percent.
Egypt's blue chip index dropped one percen as Sidpec fell 7.1 percent, while Global Telecom Holding fell 5.6 percent.
Kuwait’s index edged up 0.1 percent, Bahrain’s index edged 0.3 percent lower and Oman’s index dropped 0.3 percent.
Currencies
The dollar dropped in early trading on Wednesday.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, lost 0.25 percent to 97.051.
Precious metals
Gold prices edged up in early trading on Wednesday on a weaker U.S. dollar.
Spot gold was up about 0.1 percent at $1,202.55 per ounce at 0101 GMT.
U.S. gold futures were up 0.1 percent at $1,203 per ounce.
(Reporting by Gerard Aoun; Editing by Mily Chakrabarty)
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