Asian markets mixed as oil prices decline

While Asian stock market indices were tracing a mixed pattern on Thursday (11 August), the Shanghai Composite was up 0.07% at 3,020.95 as of 5.28am GMT following a negative close on Wall Street overnight driven by a decline in oil prices.

Oil prices took a hit after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed that there was an increase in US crude inventories in the week ended 5 August. This rekindled investors' concerns over a glut in the market. Adding to this was the recent decision by Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, to increase production in an effort to maintain market share.

"Oil is increasingly pulling back towards the $40 [£30.77] a barrel level again and many in the markets are concerned that the shorts may even be looking for prices to drop down towards the $35 level," Angus Nicholson, a market analyst at brokerage firm IG, was quoted as saying by CNBC.

Meanwhile, in Asia, Singapore reduced its economic growth forecast for 2016 amid Brexit and weakening global demand. It said its economy was now forecast to grow between 1% and 2% this year, down from the earlier 1% to 3% forecast.

Indices in the rest of Asia traded as follows on 11 August at 5.44am GMT:

Overnight (10 August), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18,495.66, down 0.20%, while the FTSE 100 closed at 6,866.42, up 0.22%.

Among commodities, oil prices continued to decline. While WTI crude oil was trading lower by 0.53% at $41.49 a barrel, Brent crude was trading 0.48% lower at $43.84 a barrel as of 5.53am GMT.