• Asian shares drop as NAFTA effect fades
  • Egypt’s stock market drops, UAE and Saudi Arabia add gains
  • Oil prices add gains
  • Dollar and gold edged up

Global markets

Asian shares dropped in early trading on Tuesday, failing to track an overnight surge on Wall Street.

The United States and Canada reached a framework deal to update the North American Free Trade Agreement, giving a boost to investor sentiment earlier in the week, but the momentum faded on Tuesday.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1 percent after a steady start. China’s financial markets are closed for the week of Oct. 1-5 for national holidays.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow rose 0.73 percent and the S&P 500 gained 0.36 percent after the deal to preserve NAFTA helped ease trade worries.

“While news that the U.S. and Canada had struck a new NAFTA trade deal gave the S&P 500 a lift overnight, dark clouds are gathering,” strategists at OCBC Bank wrote in a note, according to a Reuters report.

“With some signs of weakness in the European and Asian manufacturing PMIs Asian, markets may trade with a slightly more cautious tone.”

Middle East markets

Egypt’s stock market dropped again on Monday, as Twenty-five of the 30 stocks in Egypt's blue-chip index fell.

The market retreated 1.2 percent mainly on concerns that the Egyptian pound could weaken.

Elsewhere in the region, UAE and Saudi Arabia stocks rose on higher level of oil prices.

The Saudi index added 0.5 percent as National Commercial Bank jumped 2.6 percent and Sahara Petrochemical added 1.3 percent.

The Dubai index gained 0.5 percent on the back of a 2.4 percent rise by Emaar Properties, which in the past couple of weeks has been recovering from 30-month lows.

Construction firm Drake & Scull (DSI) rose 2.6 percent; the loss-making company postponed last Thursday's shareholder meeting to discuss its future to October 4, citing the lack of a quorum.

Abu Dhabi's index closed 0.9 percent higher as First Abu Dhabi Bank rose 2.1 percent. Invest Bank added 6.4 percent in light trade

In Qatar, the index edged 0.2 percent lower, as Commercial Bank fell 1.5 percent and Qatar Islamic Bank dropped 1.0 percent.

Bahrain’s index fell 0.3 percent, Oman’s index edged down 0.1 percent and Kuwait’s index fell 0.3 percent.

Oil prices

Oil prices added gains on Tuesday as market participants took into considerations the United States sanctions on Iran that will start from November 4.

Brent crude oil futures were at $84.94 per barrel at 0223 GMT, down 4 cents from their last close, but not far off the $85.45 peak reached in the previous session, the highest since November 2014.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 19 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $75.49 a barrel.

Currencies

The dollar consolidated on Tuesday recent gains.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, edged higher to 95.310 after hitting a three-week high of 95.373 in the previous session.

Precious metals

Gold prices added gains early on Tuesday.

Spot gold edged up 0.3 percent to $1,190.81 at 0121 GMT.

U.S. gold futures were up 0.3 percent at $1,195 an ounce.

(Writing by Gerard Aoun; Editing by Mily Chakrabarty)

(gerard.aoun@thomsonreuters.com)

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