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- Asian shares slip from 8-month high
- Oil prices decline on rising U.S. stockpiles
- Dubai’s index near 5-month high
- Gold at around 2-week high
Global markets
Asian stocks slipped on Thursday after trading near 8-month high with rising worries on global economic growth and trade tensions. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.3 percent, and Nikkei also eased 0.3 percent as the Japanese yen gained.
U.S. and European stocks were mostly higher overnight with S&P 500 gaining 0.35 percent, Nasdaq up by 0.7 percent, while the Dow saw little change.
“It has been another mixed day in the market with investors still searching for the next push one way or the other and the majority of products are trading at familiar levels,” Nick Twidale, Sydney-based analyst at Rakuten Securities Australia told Reuters.
Middle East markets
Dubai stocks were near 5-month high gaining 0.2 percent on Wednesday lifted by financial stocks with Mashreq Bank surging by 5.3 percent. Emirates NBD announced it’d sell 127.5 million shares in payment processor Network International for $725.2 million in a secondary listing on London Stock Exchange.
Abu Dhabi index, however, dropped by 0.4 percent, as it was weighed down by its major lender First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) which was down by 1.1 percent, along with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) which dropped by 1.6 percent.
In Saudi Arabia, nine out of ten banks gained on Wednesday lifting the bourse by 0.3 percent with Riyad Bank rising by 2.2 percent and Al Jazira Bank up by 1.3 percent.
Oil prices
Oil price declined on Thursday as record United States crude production pushed stockpiles to their highest levels in near 17 months to reach 456.6 million barrels, up by 7 million last week, according to the Energy Information Administration.
International benchmark Brent futures closed at $71.57 per barrel while WTI crude oil futures were at $64.36 per barrel.
The U.S. is now the largest oil producer with a record 12.2 million barrels per day crude oil production, ahead of both Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar was near two-week lows against six other currencies, with the index standing at 96.9 as minutes from the Federal Reserve meeting pointed to expectations of dovish policy. The euro little changed at $1.1278. The yen paused previous days’ gains and stood at 111.03.
As European leaders extended the deadline for the UK to leave the union, the British pound was unchanged and traded at traded at $1.3095.
Precious metals
On Thursday, Gold was around two-week high at $1,307.03 per ounce.
(Reporting by Nada Al Rifai; Editing by Mily Chakrabarty)
(nada.rifai@thomsonreuters.com)
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