World shares steady

On Tuesday world shares were steady near lows as concerns that increasing oil prices will lead to inflationary pressures appeared to alleviate, while the dollar regained strength before U.S. payrolls data on Friday seen as crucial to the Federal Reserve’s next move.

MSCI’s gauge of global stocks shed 0.1% by 0823 GMT but off a more than three-month low hit during Asian trading.

European stocks gained 0.3% as rising bank stocks and a positive earnings update from chipmaker Infineon calmed nerves following a tech-fuelled selloff on Monday. Wall Street was set to rebound with futures on the tech-heavy Nasdaq gaining 0.3% and S&P 500 futures 0.2% higher. Asian shares were negative for a third straight day, catching up with heavy losses in the United States, where investors ditched Big Tech as Facebook was hit by a nearly six-hour outage.

Facebook’s Frankfurt-listed stock gained 2.6% as its services came back online. However investors remained cautious, worrying that the rally in energy prices and supply chain disruptions could disrupt the economic recovery just as the U.S. Federal Reserve gets closer to easing its massive stimulus.

Oil prices reached their highest levels in at least three years, expanding gains from the previous session that came after the world’s major oil producers announced they had decided to keep a cap on crude supplies.

OPEC+ confirmed on Monday it would maintain its current production policy here as demand for petroleum products rebounds, despite pressure from some countries for a bigger increase to production. Brent crude gained 0.6% at $81.75 a barrel, while U.S. oil rose 0.4% at $77.94.

Market focus in Asia was on whether battered property developer China Evergrande would offer any relief to investors looking for signs of asset disposals.

Gains in the dollar lowered gold prices, which fell 0.7% to $1,757 per ounce, after gaining ground on Monday to the highest level since the 23 September.