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- Asian stocks rise on tariff deadline delay
- Dubai’s index rose 1.3 percent on Sunday
- Oil prices follow stocks higher on easing in trade tensions
- Dollar unchanged, gold prices edged up
Global markets
United States President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would delay a planned increase on Chinese imports as talks between the two sides were making “substantial progress”.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.5 percent on Monday, to the highest since October, and is up 10 percent for the year so far.
On Friday on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 94.04 points, or 0.36 percent, to 25,944.67, the S&P 500 gained 8.93 points, or 0.32 percent, to 2,783.81 and the Nasdaq Composite added 38.17 points, or 0.51 percent, to 7,497.88.
“The high frequency engagement between Beijing and Washington at a senior level implies that both sides are looking for some form of settlement,” Tai Hui, chief market strategist Asia Pacific at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, told Reuters.
“I think the market has been moving towards this view in recent weeks, as shown by the strong performance in China A Shares and Asian equities. Hence, the latest news may not offer a significant boost,” Hui added.
Middle East markets
Stock markets in the Middle East ended the day mixed on Sunday.
Dubai’s index outperformed the region, adding 1.3 percent as Emaar Properties gained 3.2 percent, Damac Properties surged 8.4 percent and Emaar Malls rose 5.1 percent.
The Abu Dhabi index rose 0.8 percent with First Abu Dhabi Bank gaining almost 1.7 percent.
Saudi Arabia's index dropped 0.4 percent, as Al Rajhi Bank fell almost 1 percent and market heavyweight Saudi Basic Industries was down 0.7 percent.
The Qatari index was mainly flat with lender Masraf Al Rayan up 2.5 percent, but the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank was down 1.5 percent.
Egypt’s blue-chip index EGX30 dropped 1.3 percent as Commercial International Bank Egypt dropped 2.2 percent.
Kuwait’s premier market index was closed for a public holiday, Bahrain’s index rose 0.8 percent and Oman’s index was mainly flat.
Oil prices
Oil prices rose early on Monday on hopes over a trade deal between the U.S. and China.
International Brent crude oil futures were at $67.26 a barrel at 0005 GMT, up 14 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $57.38 per barrel, up 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last settlement.
“Crude prices continue to be supported on optimism a trade deal will be reached in the coming days by the world’s two largest economies,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst, OANDA, told Reuters.
Currencies
The dollar was mainly flat on Monday, as investors turned to equities.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was barely moved at 96.446.
Precious metals
Gold prices edged higher on Monday.
Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,329.16 per ounce at 0056 GMT.
U.S. gold futures dipped 0.2 percent to $1,330.8 per ounce.
(Reporting by Gerard Aoun; Editing by Mily Chakrabarty)
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