Oil prices jump as Asian shares slip on trade issue

Oil rose towards $85 yesterday as Asian shares slipped on lingering trade and US rates worries.

Asian shares slipped on Monday as worries over Sino-US trade disputes, a possible slowdown in the Chinese economy and higher US borrowing costs tempered optimism, despite a rebound in global equities.

Not helping the mood, oil prices jumped and Saudi Arabian shares tumbled on rising diplomatic tensions between Riyadh and the West.

The situation arose after the monarchy warned against threats to punish it over disappearance of a journalist.

Oil prices reversed their downtrend since early this month.

Brent crude futures rose to 81.82 dollars per barrel,

Investors were also bracing for a European Union summit meeting from Wednesday.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.9 per cent.

MSCI’s broadest gauge of the world’s stock markets , was off 0.1 per cent after a sizable 3.87 per cent decline last week to a one-year nadir, and marking its biggest weekly fall since March.

The market shakeout has been blamed on a series of factors, including worries about the impact of a U.S.-China trade war, a spike in U.S. bond yields this week and caution ahead of earnings season. (NAN)