• Oil prices rallied as OPEC issued a list of production cuts
  • Global markets rose on signs of easing trade tensions
  • Most markets in the Middle East rose on Thursday
  • Dollar gains, gold retreats

Oil prices

Oil prices surged on Friday as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) issued on Friday a list of oil production cuts by its members and other major producers for six months starting on January 1, to boost confidence in its oil supply reduction pact.

Brent crude were up $1.64 to $62.82 a barrel, or 2.7 percent, at 1606 GMT.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up $1.70 to $53.77 a barrel, or 3.3 percent.

“It’s going to send a signal to the market that they’re serious,” Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago, told Reuters.

“I think they also want to point out that they’re probably going to be overcompliant with these numbers, especially from Saudi Arabia.”

Global markets

Most stock markets in the world closed higher on Friday.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 1.23 percent and the pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 1.80 percent.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 336.25 points, or 1.38 percent, to 24,706.35, the S&P 500 gained 34.75 points, or 1.32 percent, to 2,670.71 and the Nasdaq Composite added 72.77 points, or 1.03 percent, to 7,157.23.

“There seems to be some progress going in the trade negotiations,” Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama, told Reuters.

While that was the biggest influence, “we’ve still got momentum since the first of the year,” he said. “Some of the money that came out of the market at year-end, whether it was high frequency traders or tax-loss selling, is coming back in.”

Middle East markets

Stock markets in the region mostly rose on Thursday.

Dubai’s index added 0.6 percent as lender Emirates NBD rose by 1.1 percent and developer Emaar Properties added 1.3 percent.

Abu Dhabi’s index edged up 0.1 percent as Emirates Telecommunications Group added 0.4 percent and National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah gained 2.2 percent.

Saudi Arabia's main index rose 0.5 percent as Its biggest lender, National Commercial Bank (NCB), rose 0.8 percent in heavy trade. Samba Financial Group, Saudi's third-largest bank by assets, rose 2.2 percent after a 10 percent jump in 2018 net profit.

Qatar’s index edged up 0.2 percent, as Qatar Gas Transport and Qatar Insurance rose 3.6 percent and 2.9 percent respectively.

Egypt's blue-chip index EGX30 eased by 0.2 percent, with declines for 23 of its 30 stocks. EFG Hermes was down 2.3 percent and Eastern Co fell by 2.1 percent.

Kuwait's index edged 0.2 percent higher, Oman's index dropped 0.5 percent and Bahrain's index edged 0.1 percent higher.

Currencies

An easing in trade tensions boosted the dollar on Friday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.31 percent on Friday.

Precious metals

Gold prices dropped on Friday on a stronger dollar.

Spot gold was down 0.6 percent to $1,283.19 per ounce at 1842 GMT, having hit its lowest since Jan. 9 at $1,280.85.

U.S. gold futures settled down 0.8 percent at $1,282.60.

(Reporting by Gerard Aoun; Editing by Mily Chakrabarty)

(gerard.aoun@refinitiv.com)


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