• Wall Street and Asian shares rebound from Tuesday’s drop
  • Banking and petrochemical shares weigh on the Saudi index
  • Oil prices drop on unexpected build up in U.S. inventories
  • Dollar and gold prices steady ahead of the Fed meeting outcome

Global markets

Asian shares rose in early trading on Wednesday tracking a surge on Wall Street, boosted by strong data from the United States, despite late reports on Tuesday that the U.S. plans tariffs of 25 percent on $200 billion in Chinese imports.

Reuters reported that a source told it an announcement on Washington’s tariff plans for China could come as early as Wednesday.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.43 percent overnight to 25,415.19, the S&P 500 gained 0.49 percent to 2,816.29 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.55 percent to 7,671.79.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index gained 0.6 percent.


Middle East markets

Banking and petrochemical shares weighed on the Saudi stock market on Tuesday, while the banking sector in Qatar boosted the index, which continued to rebound from losses on Monday.

Saudi Arabia, the region's biggest stock market, dropped 0.2 percent as Al-Rajhi Bank and petrochemicals giant SABIC both lost 0.5 percent.

Riyad Bank and Saudi British Bank (SABB) also closed down 1.1 percent and 1.6 percent respectively.

"Valuations for the market as a whole are not exciting," Vrajesh Bhandari, a portfolio manager at Dubai-based Al Mal Capital, told Reuters. "Having said that, multiples can expand further."

Dubai’s index dropped 0.3 percent, led by a 1 percent drop in Dubai Islamic Bank.

Neighbouring Abu Dhabi's market rebounded to end up 0.3 percent after dipping in early trade.

Qatar’s index added more than 1.8 percent boosted by a rise in the banking sector. The index is rebounding from from early losses on Monday after telecommunications firm Ooredoo reported a 60 percent decline in second-quarter net profit.

Egypt’s index rose 1.85 percent, Bahrain’s index fell 0.9 percent, while Kuwait’s index dropped 1.3 percent and Oman’s index rose 0.4 percent.

Oil prices

Oil prices fell early on Wednesday as data from the American Petroleum Institute showed domestic crude inventories rose by 5.6 million barrels last week. A Reuters poll had forecast a fall of 2.8 million barrels. Official data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due later on Wednesday.

“API...showed a big build. So all eyes will be on the EIA data this evening,” Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader, told Reuters.

October Brent crude futures dropped 29 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $73.92 a barrel by 0044 GMT, adding to a 1.8 percent loss in the previous session.

U.S. crude futures were down 44 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $68.32 a barrel, having dropped nearly 2 percent on Tuesday.


Currencies

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies added 0.1 percent with investors awaiting the outcome of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting for clues on interest rates.

The dollar was flat against the yen at 111.85.


Precious metals

Gold prices were mainly steady early on Wednesday after dropping in the previous session.

Spot gold was unchanged at $1,223.45 an ounce at 0050 GMT, after hitting the lowest since July 19 at $1,214.40 overnight.

U.S. gold futures were 0.1 percent lower at $1,222.40 an ounce.

Gain a deeper understanding of financial markets through Thomson Reuters Eikon.

(Writing by Gerard Aoun; Editing by Shane McGinley)
(gerard.aoun@thomsonreuters.com)

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