By Rafiq Raji, PhD
Twitter: @DrRafiqRaji

Global Markets

• Asian shares, dollar becalmed awaiting trade news
• Asia shares up marginally after Wall St finishes flat
• US-Mexico trade deal facing obstacles, Canada enters talks
• Next deadline on China tariffs just a week away
• Dollar edges up from lows, euro holds recent gains

Oil Markets

• Oil prices firm on Iran sanctions, but rising global supply caps market
• US sanctions to target Iran’s oil sector from November
• Oil buyers already scaling back orders from Iran
• But non-OPEC crude supply to rise – BoAML
• Brent crude oil futures up 5 cents at $76 per barrel (0030GMT)
• US WTI crude futures up 6 cents at $68.59 a barrel

Precious metals

• Gold prices inch up, but US-China trade tensions weigh
• Spot gold up 0.1 pct at $1,202.46 an ounce (0112GMT)
• US gold futures down 0.5 pct at $1,208.90 an ounce

Grains

• Soybeans edge higher from 6-wk low
• Most active CBOT wheat futures up 0.1 pct at $5.23-1/2 per bushel (0101GMT)
• Most active corn futures unchanged at $3.56-1/4 per bushel
• Most active soy futures up 0.2 pct at $8.35 per bushel
• Most active rice futures up 0.2 pct at $10.71 per hundredweight

Key African events or data releases today
[Posts & comments at my Twitter handle @DrRafiqRaji]

• UK’s Theresa May in Nigeria today; 2^nd leg of her 3-nation Africa working visit
• Kenya’s deputy chief justice Mwilu to take plea on abuse of office charges at a magistrate court today
• South Africa’s state capture inquiry to continue today; former ANC MP Mentor to testify for a few minutes, new witness to be called

Key African events or data releases yesterday & early a.m today
[Posted & commented on some headlines below at my Twitter handle @DrRafiqRaji]

• South Sudan rebels to sign latest draft peace deal – Sudan
• Egypt’s top Muslim authority condemns harassment of women
• Revised business model spurs profits at South Africa’s RCL Foods
• Truck explodes at Glencore oilfield in Chad, production suspended
• Egypt’s al-Azhar calls for harsh penalties for sexual harassment
• US says air strike kills Islamic State militant in Libya
• Nigerian schoolgirl kidnapped by Boko Haram begs for freedom
• Ugandan army arrests soldiers over beating of lawmakers
• South Africa withdraws land expropriation bill passed in 2016
• South Africa’s rand steadies after volatile trade; stocks rise
• South Africa’s Solidarity union to strike at Sasol over black staff scheme
• Kenya’s deputy chief justice arrested for suspected corruption – police, prosecutor
• Africa Crude – Nigerian and Angolan markets supported by demand uplift
• Congo Republic confirms yellow fever near Angolan enclave
• Swiss court approves Gunvor ex-employee’s Congo bribery plea bargain
• Migrants rejected by Italy were tortured and raped, UN says
• War crimes prosecutor calls for conviction in Congo sexual slavery case
• Uganda parliament speaker demands arrest of security agents behind beating of lawmakers
• Wintershall’s Libya oil output sharply lower at 10,000 bpd
• Britain will use aid budget to boost trade in Africa – PM May
• Vietnam sentences South African drug smuggler to death
• Court rejects Angola fund’s request to appeal in Quantum Global case
• Number of Somalis evicted from their homes doubles in first half of 2018 – report
• South Africa Cashbuild annual profit down 9 pct, shares fall
• South Sudan rebel leader refuses to sign latest peace deal – Sudan minister
• Kenya shilling steady, end month dollar demand subdued
• China says projects to blame for majority of Africa debt
• Britain supports South African land reform – PM May
• Ugandan shilling little changed amid subdued commercial bank dollar demand

N.B. Full stories of above headlines are available on Reuters