Asian markets: Shanghai Composite slips following USD appreciation

All Asian stock market indices were trading lower on 4 May. China's Shanghai Composite Index closed lower by 0.05% at 2,991.27. This was after the strengthening of the US dollar, which in turn pushed the prices of commodities, including oil, lower.

Angus Nicholson, market analyst at IG, said: "Equity market sentiment seems to be rolling over globally as the wind begins to come out of the oil price rally."

The dollar index, a measure of the greenback against a basket of global currencies, that hit a 15-month low on 3 May rose 0.25% today (4 May). An advance in the US currency is set to put pressure on commodity prices, as they are denominated in dollars. This is understood to in turn make investors cautious.

With regards to dollar prices going forward, analysts at Capital Economics opined: "Despite its fall, we don't expect the US dollar to continue to struggle through the end of 2017 for three key reasons. First, we think commodity prices are unlikely to continue to climb sharply. Second, we expect demand for safe havens to fade. And third, we continue to anticipate a much starker contrast than investors do in the policies of the Fed and the other major central banks."

Indices in the rest of Asia traded as follows on 4 May at 5.49am GMT:

Meanwhile, overnight (3 May), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 17,750.91, down 0.78%, while the FTSE 100 closed at 6,185.59, down 0.90%.

Among commodities, oil prices, which slipped overnight, were trading marginally higher. On 4 May, WTI crude oil was trading 0.18% higher at $43.73 (£30.08, €38.08) a barrel, while Brent was 0.02% higher at $44.98 a barrel at 5.59am GMT.