• Oil prices rise on higher Chinese demand
  • Asian shares reverse early losses to close higher
  • Most markets in the Middle East fell on Sunday
  • Dollar steadies, gold prices edge up

Oil prices

Oil prices rose in early trading on Monday, adding to the gains recorded on Friday.

Signs of surging demand in China, the world’s largest importer, has been boosting prices. Prices were also boosted as market participants took into consideration the United States sanctions on Iran that will start from November 4.

Front-month Brent crude oil futures were trading at $79.88 a barrel at 0248 GMT, 10 cents above their last close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $69.31 a barrel, 19 cents above their last settlement.

“In China, higher seasonal demand and suspected stockpiling are occurring, while similarly the U.S. and the OECD continue building stockpiles ahead of potential supply disruptions this winter,” Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia/Pacific at futures brokerage Oanda in Singapore, told Reuters.

Global markets

Asian shares reversed early losses on Monday to close higher, boosted by Chinese stocks, as Beijing pledged support for the economy and companies at the end of last week.

Blue chips in Shanghai climbed 3.5 percent and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan turned around to edge up 0.2 percent.

On Friday on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 64.89 points, or 0.26 percent, to 25,444.34, the S&P 500 lost 1 point, or 0.04 percent, to 2,767.78 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 36.11 points, or 0.48 percent, to 7,449.03.

Companies like Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Caterpillar are expected to report third quarter earnings this week.

“The season on an absolute basis will likely wind up being ‘strong’ and the vast majority of companies will exceed consensus expectations,” analysts at JPMorgan said in a note, according to a Reuters report.

“However, headwinds are building at the margin in the form of U.S. dollar strength, supply chain disruptions owing to all the trade uncertainty, and rising costs. Even the mere hint of a turn in profit fundamentals would have severe ramifications.”

Middle East markets

Dubai’s index dropped 0.8 percent on Sunday as Dubai Islamic Bank fell 1.9 percent and Emaar Properties retreated 0.8 percent.

In Abu Dhabi, First Abu Dhabi Bank slipped 1.4 percent, while Emirates Telecommunications Group (Etisalat) dipped 0.6 percent. Abu Dhabi's main index closed down 0.9 percent.

Saudi Arabia’s index closed 0.2 percent higher. Saudi Industrial Services fell 6.1 percent.

The Qatari index dropped 0.4 percent as Qatar Islamic Bank closed down 1.1 percent, while Qatar Electricity and Water slipped 1.5 percent after the company on Thursday reported a slight drop in nine-month net profit.

Egypt’s index fell 0.9 percent, Kuwait’s index edged down 0.1 percent, Bahrain’s index dropped 0.1 percent while Oman’s index shed 0.2 percent.

Currencies

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies was little changed in early trading on Monday, standing at 95.704.

Precious metals

Gold prices added gains on Monday on weaker equities.

Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,227.56 an ounce at 0039 GMT. On Oct. 15, the bullion touched its highest since July 26 at $1,233.26.

U.S. gold futures were up 0.2 percent at $1,230.60 an ounce.

(Writing by Gerard Aoun; Editing by Mily Chakrabarty)

(gerard.aoun@thomsonreuters.com)

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