Asian shares dropped on Thursday as minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting showed policymakers were more confident of the need to keep raising interest rates, driving investors to weigh up the prospect that interest rates in the United States could rise four times this year.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.8 percent.

On Wall Street, the Dow was down 0.67 percent on Wednesday, while the S&P 500 fell 0.55 percent and the Nasdaq fell 0.22 percent.

In the Middle East, most markets traded in low volumes on Wednesday.

The Saudi index was flat at 7,506 points. Saudi Investment Bank added 1.7 percent after reporting a 16 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit to 352 million riyals. NCB Capital had forecast 301 million riyals and EFG Hermes 302 million riyals.

“With the MSCI news coming in next month, we expect the Saudi market to see inflows from institutional money,” Kunal Damle of Bahrain-based Securities & Investment Company (SICO) told Trading Middle East via Thomson Reuters’ Eikon messenger:

“The Saudi market is liquid and deep - that should be supportive to other markets in the region.”

Dubai’s index rose 0.5 percent, as Emaar Properties boosted the market by rising 3.2 percent to 6.22 dirhams in its heaviest volume this year.

Neighbouring Abu Dhabi’s index edged up 0.1 percent.

Egypt’s blue-chip index added 0.2 percent as QNB Alahly surged 2.4 percent.

Qatar’s index added 0.2 percent, Kuwait’s index rose 0.3 percent, while Oman’s index fell 0.3 percent and Bahrain’s index added 0.5 percent.

In commodities, oil prices were lower on Thursday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures stood at $61.12 a barrel at 0102 GMT, down 56 cents, or 0.9 percent, from their last settlement.

Brent crude futures dropped 50 cents, or 0.8 percent, from their last close to $64.92 per barrel.

In currencies, the dollar rose to a more than one-week high on Wednesday, and kept trading close to this level early on Thursday following the release of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting minutes.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.37 percent.

Spot gold was largely flat at $1,323.73 an ounce at 0108 GMT, as the dollar strengthened.

In other news, an economic adviser to Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that the Bank of Japan should consider buying foreign bonds as part of efforts to reflate the economy.

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