By Rafiq Raji, PhD
Twitter: @DrRafiqRaji

Global Markets

• Asia stocks slip as NAFTA lift fades; oil near 4-yr highs
• MSCI Asia-Pacific index falls 1 pct, Nikkei flat
• Canadian dollar stands near 4-mth high, euro sags on Italy woes
• Crude oil prices elevated near 4-yr peaks

Oil Markets

• Oil near 4-yr high as Washington’s Iran sanctions loom on Nov. 4
• OPEC seen to have little spare capacity to fill Iran loss
• Iran’s oil exports are falling
• Canada/US NAFTA deal lifts market sentiment
• Brent crude futures up 5 cents at $85.03 per barrel (0439GMT)
• US WTI crude futures up 24 cents at $75.54 a barrel

Precious metals

• Gold edges up, but NAFTA deal weighs
• Spot gold up 0.3 pct at $1,190.81 per ounce (0121GMT)
• US gold futures up 0.3 pct at $1,195 an ounce

Grains

• Soybeans edge lower, but near 6-wk high
• Most active CBOT wheat futures up 0.4 pct at $5.11-3/4 per bushel (0054GMT)
• Most active corn futures down 0.4 pct at $3.64-1/4 per bushel
• Most active soy futures down 0.2 pct at $8.55-3/4 per bushel
• Most active rice futures up 0.3 pct at $10.16 per hundredweight

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

• First lady Melania Trump departs on four-country trip to Africa
• Egypt and Algeria want less spending on subsidies
• Sierra Leone military truck flips over, killing 13
• Spanish tuna vessel arrested for shark fishing off Gabon
• South African sugar makes rare appearance in small ICE October expiry
• UN invites Western Sahara parties to new talks in December
• Ivory Coast cocoa farmgate price up in new season, Ghana’s flat
• Zimbabwe sees faster GDP growth but budget deficit could hobble economy
• African Crude – Chinese buying feeds demand for Angolan grades
• At least 10 die after grenade thrown in night club in South Sudan – police
• Armed with award-winning app, Kenyan tribe fights forced evictions
• South African state pension fund’s assets grow 8.6 pct
• Zimbabwe economic reform plan to push GDP growth to 5 pct – cenbank
• Namibia president wants land expropriated to boost black ownership
• Nigeria’s Buhari promises 2019 elections will be fair after regional vote criticised
• Three die after Somalia car bomb strikes EU convoy – police
• Egypt sells 904 mln Egyptian pounds of T-bonds after cancelled auctions
• Hague court hears Ivory Coast ex-president Gbagbo’s plea for dismissal
• Zambia to introduce sales tax next year to boost revenues
• South Africa looks to kickstart its biofuels industry
• Ugandan shilling trades steady amid flat appetite for hard currency
• Marriott International to increase its Africa hotels by 50 pct by 2023
• South Africa’s ABSA PMI remains in contraction in September
• Kenyan shilling steady against the dollar

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