Oil prices rose to mid-2015 highs on Tuesday supported by strong demand, especially from China, as well OPEC-led output cut along with Russia.

As oil inventories have been falling since March 2017, analysts see that the fundamental outlook for oil has improved since 2017.

Asian stocks reached a decade high on Tuesday following positive data from Chinese manufacturing survey. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.5 percent hitting its highest peak since 2007.

The dollar recorded its worst performance for the year 2017 since 2003 losing 9.8 percent. On Friday, the dollar hit a three-month low against a basket of currencies. The Euro, on the other hand, had its strongest year against the U.S. currency in 14 years.

In commodities, gold had its best performance in seven years gaining 13 percent in 2017 supported by weak U.S. dollar.

In the Middle East markets, Saudi stocks fell on Monday after the government raised gasoline prices, a move which came sooner than some had expected. The hike combined with the introduction of VAT from the beginning of 2018 may hit consumers’ purchasing power, despite setting up a system of cash-handouts for low to middle income Saudis to ease the impact of reforms.

A Reuters poll of 13 leading regional fund managers showed that many funds will bet on  a better 2018, with  54 percent expected to raise Mideast equities’ allocations over the next three months with Saudi the most favored stock market.

In Jordan, the royal palace denied rumors about dismissal of princes after a major shakeup in the kingdom. Jordanian King Abdullah said on Tuesday that his brothers Prince Faisal and Prince Ali and his cousin Prince Talal would be retiring from the armed forces as part of the reorganization of the structure of the armed forces.

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