Inconclusive Oil Meet Between Oil Producers Drag European Markets Down

It was yet another day of a rebound for Asian markets as most of the indices finished higher except India’s Mumbai Sensex. A combination of factors infused positivity in the markets, which were hammered last week. Among these, a steady rally in the oil prices remained a strong factor.The commodity’s price held its gains today as well with Brent Crude trading near $34 levels. However, the rally was seen fading out during the late Asian hours.

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Asia closes up

China’s Shanghai SE Composite Index added up the most as it was up by 3.29% to 2,836.57. Hong Kong Hang Seng bounced 1.08% to 19,122.08 while Taiwan TSEC 50 Index moved 1.80% up to 8,212.07. Japan’s Nikkei 225 saw only a marginal improvement of 0.20% to 16.054.43 during the day. Mumbai Sensex remained an exception as it sank 1.44% to 23,216.03.

Analysts caution that an upsurge in the stock markets can be temporary and that volatility can show up with the slightest disruption in other parts of the world. According to market experts, markets can be seen as stabilised only if there is long-term stability in the Chinese economy, oil prices and global financial conditions.

Europe mixed

The trading pattern in Europe showed agreement with the analysts as most of the European indices pared their gains during the late Asian hours. Both DAX and Swiss Market Index fell 0.23% and 0.61% to 9,185.73 and 7,800.76 respectively. FTSE 100 was 0.31% up to 5,842.39, Euronext 100 by 0.68% to 819.21 and CAC 40 inched up 0.55% to 4,137.91.

The reason for pressure on European stocks is seen as a reversal in oil momentum, which started shedding gains following the decision between oil producing countries. According to reports, the energy ministers from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Russia concluded their meeting while agreeing to maintain output at January levels. The lack of commitment to any output cut is weighing over the oil sentiment as well as markets for now.

The U.S. markets will open today, where the manufacturing activity data in New York is due to release.

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