• Asian shares follow Wall Street higher
  • Stock markets in the Middle East closed higher on Sunday
  • Oil prices drop on rising U.S. supply
  • Dollar drops, gold steadies

Global markets

Asian shares rose on Monday, tracking a surge on Wall Street on Friday, after President Donald Trump confirmed he and lawmakers agreed to advance a three-week stop-gap spending plan to reopen the government.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 0.4 percent.

On Friday on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 183.96 points, or 0.75 percent, to 24,737.2, the S&P 500 gained 22.43 points, or 0.85 percent, to 2,664.76 and the Nasdaq Composite added 91.40 points, or 1.29 percent, to 7,164.86.

“The rise in the broader stock markets looks to keep going. The U.S. government reopening is definitely a plus for market sentiment,” Soichiro Monji, senior economist at Daiwa SB Investments, told Reuters.

“There are still potential risk factors, such as the U.S.-China trade row and Brexit,” he said.

Middle East market

Stock markets in the region rose mostly on Sunday.

Saudi Arabia's index was up 0.9 percent as Saudi Investment Bank rose 8.7 percent and Arab National Bank rose 3.2 percent.

Dubai's index gained 0.9 percent as Emirates NBD rose 2.0 percent, and Emaar Malls rose 1.9 percent.

Abu Dhabi's index added 1.0 percent as Union National Bank gained 6.1 percent and developer Aldar Properties was up 2.6 percent.

Qatar's index lost 0.4 percent, weighed down by the industrial sector as Industries Qatar slipped another 1.8 percent and Qatar Fuel Co fell 0.8 percent.

Egypt’s blue-chip index EGX30 rose 2.3 percent, Kuwait’s index lost 1.2 percent, while Oman’s index edged 0.3 percent lower and Bahrain’s index gained 1.2 percent.

Oil prices

Oil prices dropped on Monday as rising supplies from the United States dragged prices lower.

Industry data showed in the U.S. that crude inventories rose by 6.6 million barrels in the week ending January 18 to 443.6 million, compared with analysts’ expectations for a decrease of 42,000 barrels.

U.S. crude oil futures were at $53.43 per barrel at 0253 GMT, down 26 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last settlement.

International Brent crude oil futures were at $61.50 a barrel, down 14 cents, or 0.2 percent.

“We expect U.S. crude oil prices to range between $50-$60 per barrel in 2019 and about $10 more per barrel for Brent,” Tortoise Capital Advisors said in its 2019 oil market outlook, according to a Reuters report.

However, Tortoise added that oil prices would be supported above $50 per barrel as it was “very clear that Saudi Arabia will no longer be willing to accept these lower oil prices”.

Currencies

The dollar dropped on Monday as equities rose.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was marginally lower at 95.74, after falling 0.8 percent on Friday.

Precious metals

Gold prices steadied on Monday as the dollar dropped.

Spot gold was firm at $1,302.58 per ounce by 0308 GMT, while U.S. gold futures climbed 0.3 percent to $1,301.90 per ounce.

(Reporting by Gerard Aoun; Editing by Mily Chakrabarty)

(gerard.aoun@refinitiv.com)


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