• Oil prices retreat on higher supply
  • Global markets add gains
  • Middle East markets retreat, Saudi Arabia adds gains
  • The dollars steps back, gold prices add gains

Oil prices

Oil prices retreated in early trading on Wednesday as data released on Tuesday by the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed that U.S. crude inventories rose by 1.2 million barrels to 397.1 million in the week to September 14.

Brent crude futures had dropped 22 cents, or 0.28 percent, to $78.81 per barrel by 0042 GMT, chipping away at Tuesday’s 1.26 percent gain.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 0.20 percent, or 14 cents, to $69.71 a barrel.

“The U.S. crude build temporarily grabbed trader attention,” Chen Kai, head of commodities research at broker Shengda Futures, told Reuters.

“Increasing fuel stocks in the U.S. and strong crude runs could lead to a bigger premium for Brent versus WTI.”

Global markets

Asian shares edged up early on Wednesday, tracking a rebound on Wall Street overnight.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.15 percent.

“The broader equity markets are able to regroup now that the latest phase of the U.S.-China trade war is over,” Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management in Tokyo, told Reuters.

“There was relief as the United States set the initial tariffs at 10 percent, rather than the expected 25 percent, seen by some as a gesture that it was buying time for further negotiations.”

Middle East markets

Stock markets in the Middle East mostly retreated again on Tuesday but Saudi Arabia’s index added gains on higher oil prices.

The Saudi index gained 0.4 percent as SABIC rose by 1.5 percent after the company and Clariant said they will merge their high-performance materials businesses. Al Tayyar Travel jumped its 10 percent daily limit.

Egypt’s stock market flattened out on Tuesday after two days of decline. The index added more than 1 percent during the day but only managed to close 0.02 percent higher at the end of the session.

Dubai’s index dropped 0.3 percent, with Aramex dropping 4.2 percent and Emirates NBD retreating 1.1 percent.

Abu Dhabi’s index edged down 0.1 percent as Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank closed 3.3 percent down.

Qatar’s index edged down 0.09 percent, Oman’s index lost 0.5 percent while Kuwait’s index dropped 0.1 percent and Bahrain’s index added 0.08 percent.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar weakened despite concerns of an escalation in global trade tensions after the United States imposed a new round of tariffs on Chinese imports.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.1 percent.

Precious metals

Gold prices edged up on a weaker dollar.

Spot gold had climbed 0.1 percent to $1,199.18 an ounce by 0044 GMT.

U.S. gold futures were up 0.1 percent at $1,203.70 an ounce.

(Writing by Gerard Aoun; Editing by Mily Chakrabarty)

(gerard.aoun@thomsonreuters.com)


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