Brent crude rose to near $114 a barrel on Tuesday, after steep losses in the previous session, but gains were limited as investors weighed the impact of the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus push on oil demand and eyed China's next step to boost its economy.
Brent crude fell more than $5 a barrel late on Monday in a wave of late, high-volume selling that many traders said appeared to have stemmed from an automated computer trading program.
Brent crude for November delivery was up 46 cents at $114.25 a barrel by 0221 GMT. Brent, which had settled at $116.66 a barrel on Friday in its seventh straight session of gains, sank on Monday from $115.20 at 1752 GMT to $111.60 three minutes later as trading volumes shot up.
Gold edged lower in volatile trade on Tuesday after commodity markets plunged overnight and investors booked profit from a recent rally sparked by the Federal Reserve's aggressive round of stimulus efforts.
But worries that central bank money-printing will ultimately stoke inflation could prompt more buying in gold, which rallied to its highest in nearly seven months last week after the Fed launched a third round of bond buying.
Gold dropped $4.21 an ounce to $1,756.74 by 0247 GMT.
Qatar Airways, the Gulf state's flag carrier, made a small net loss in the last financial year which ended in March because of high oil prices, its chief executive said on Monday.
"We had a very small loss because of the huge increase in oil price," Akbar al-Baker told reporters.
"Profit on an EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) level was 47 percent above the previous year, but on a net level we made a small loss. For the 2010-2011 financial year, we made a substantial profit."
He did not elaborate. Qatar Airways, which is not listed on a stock market, does not regularly disclose its earnings.
Saudi Arabia is expecting more than 1.8m foreign pilgrims and around 1m domestic pilgrims to perform Hajj this year, Hajj Minister Bandar Hajjar told the Saudi Press Agency.
Last year, approximately 2.5m Muslims are estimated to have travelled to Mecca to undertake the Islamic pilgrimage.
In August, authorities announced plans to invest US$16.5bn in improving transport infrastructure in the holy city, including the building of a bus network and metro system.
Weapons traffickers are stepping up their arms purchases in Iraq's southern provinces, in a widespread smuggling effort to back the uprising in Syria.
To date, much of the Iraqi support for the Syrian uprising has come through Anbar province, a Sunni stronghold, which shares a long western border with Syria.
But now that rebel network appears to be spreading into the Shiite-majority south – a development that is causing Iraqi leaders to worry that Syrian unrest is straining Iraq's sectarian system.
The Lebanese Ministry of Finance has backed an oil and gas summit due to take place later this year.
Lebanon has recently discovered large quantities of offshore oil and gas and has been seeking foreign investors.
The Lebanon International Oil and Gas summit is due to be held in December, with both the Ministry of Energy and Water and the Ministry of Finance backing it.
