By Mahmoud Gamal
UAE – Mubasher: Global stock markets ended Tuesday with steep declines, following China’s bearish economic data and the decline in the U.S. dollar that swung due to blurry visions as to the Fed’s decision in its upcoming meeting.
Brent fell on Tuesday by $0.47 or 1.15% to reach $40.26 per barrel. U.S. crude also dropped by $0.14 to $37.51 per barrel.
“The outcome of OPEC’s meeting last Friday continues to weigh on oil prices that reached record lows,” said Ahmed Hassan Karam, economist and analyst in oil sector.
He added that the decline in prices on Tuesday was due to the decrease in the U.S. oil inventories.
The U.S. greenback fell against major currencies on Tuesday, as it declined by 0.5% against the euro to reach 1.0887.
Meanwhile, gold prices rose by 0.3% to $1,073.18 per ounce. Silver dropped by 0.6% to $14.14 per ounce, while platinum went down by 0.8% to $846.44 per ounce.
As for global bourses, Japan’s Nikkei sagged 1.2% to 19,261.16 points in Wednesday’s early trade, which is the lowest level since mid-November. The broader index Topix slid 0.9%.
U.S. stocks ended Tuesday on a down note, as Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.92% to 17,568 points, pressured by oil prices and China’s trade data.
