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Oil futures slumped to their lowest close in more than four years Tuesday, as traders grew more doubtful the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will deliver meaningful` production cuts when cartel officials meet later this week.
Nymex WTI crude for January delivery CLF5, -0.04% dropped $1.69, or 2.2%, to close at $74.09 a barrel, the lowest finish for a most-active futures contract since September 2010. ICE January Brent LCOF5, +0.09% dropped $1.35, or 1.7%, to $78.33 a barrel.
Gold futures settled slightly higher Tuesday, yet couldn’t hold its price above the $1,200 level that many traders have watched carefully.
December gold futures GCZ4, +0.05% settled up by $1.40, or 0.1%, at $1,197.10 an ounce, after briefly punching above the $1,200 mark.
Here are the latest trading levels for Asia's major stock markets:
Tokyo (Nikkei Average) flat
Hong Kong (Hang Seng Index) up 0.1%
Shanghai (Shanghai Composite Index) up 0.5% (at break)
Sydney (S&P/ASX 200) up 0.7%
Seoul (Kospi) up 0.1%
Mumbai (Sensex) down 0.1%
Taipei (Taiex) up 0.1%
Asian markets were mostly higher Wednesday following better-than-expected US economic growth data and news that Germany had narrowly averted recession.
The dollar struggled to resume its uptrend against the yen, with analysts forecasting the pairing were close to finding their plateau.
Tokyo fell 0.27 per cent owing to the stronger yen, but Hong Kong added 0.13 per cent, Sydney rose 0.87 per cent and Shanghai gained 0.46 per cent. Seoul was flat.
The gains came despite a weak lead from Wall Street, where the Dow and S&P 500 retreated slightly from record highs.
MALAYSIA share prices opened higher on Wednesday with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index up 1.95 points to 1840.52.
Volume was 30.95 million lots worth RM11.72 million.
Gainers outnumbered losers 99 to 61.
