Global markets lose momentum

Asian stocks mostly sluggish after weakness on Wall Street

31/10/2017 18:20 AST

Asian stocks were mostly sluggish on Tuesday after weakness on Wall Street. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 percent.

In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia's stock market was soft on Monday despite strong earnings at Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), while Emaar Properties dragged down Dubai's index.The Saudi index edged down 0.2 percent. SABIC, the biggest petrochemical producer, gained 0.6 percent after reporting a 10.7 percent rise in third-quarter net profit to 5.79 billion riyals ($1.54 billion); analysts had on average forecast 4.27 billion riyals.

The Dubai index edged down 0.3 percent as real estate giant Emaar Properties lost 1.4 percent. This offset gains by several other stocks such as GFH Financial, which rose 1.2 percent after saying it may list its shares in Saudi Arabia.

Abu Dhabi's index edged down 0.1 percent.In Egypt, the index surged 1.2 percent as Orascom Telecom jumped 7.6 percent in heavy trade.

Egyptian Chemical Industries surged 6.2 percent after its quarterly net profit more than doubled from a year earlier.

In currencies, the dollar touched a one-week low versus the yen on Tuesday.The yen showed limited reaction after the Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy steady on Tuesday as widely expected, even as it slightly cut its inflation forecast for the current fiscal year.

The dollar held steady at 113.17 yen, having slipped to as low as 112.97 yen in early Asian trade, its lowest level since Oct. 20.

In commodities, oil prices were stable early on Tuesday, supported by a tightening market due to ongoing OPEC-led efforts to cut supplies, although the prospect of rising U.S. shale output dragged.Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $60.78 per barrel at 0343 GMT. That was 12 cents below their last settlement, but still not far off the highest level since July 2015 reached earlier this week and up some 37 percent since their 2017-lows last June.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $54.05 a barrel, 10 cents below their last close. But that was still near their highest level since February and up around 28 percent since 2017-lows marked in June.

Gold prices were largely unchanged on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy steady, with investors shifting their attention to other central bank meetings and economic events due this week.

In other news, the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady and roughly maintained its ambitious price forecasts on Tuesday, pointing to signs of growing strength in the economy that policymakers hope will accelerate inflation toward its elusive 2 percent target.

The average yield on Egypt's three- and seven-year treasury bonds rose at an auction on Monday, central bank data showed.

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