By Rafiq Raji, PhD
Twitter: @DrRafiqRaji
#Global #Markets
- Asian shares inch up to 4-mth highs, NZ$ takes a dive
- Asia ex-Japan shares tick up, Australia leads gains
- Nikkei slips, S&P 500 futures down too
- Dollar holds gains as kiwi slides on jobs data
#Oil #Markets
- Oil falls as US maintains record output, inventories climb
- But #OPEC cuts, #Venezuela crisis tighten market
- #Brent futures down 0.4 pct at $62.43 per barrel (0247GMT)
- US #WTI futures down 0.3 pct at $53.84 per barrel
#Preciousmetals
- Gold prices hold near 1-wk lows on stronger dollar
- Spot #gold steady at $1,306.81 per ounce (0050GMT)
- US #gold futures down 0.3 pct at $1,310.70
#Grains
- #Soybeans snap 4-day rally as South American crop crunch woes ease
- Most active #CBOT #wheat futures down 0.4 pct at $5.23-3/4 per bushel (0227GMT)
- Most active #corn futures down 0.1 pct at $3.79-1/2 per bushel
- Most active #soy futures down 0.2 pct at $9.20-1/4 per bushel
- Most active #rice futures down 0.8 pct at $10.49 per hundredweight
Key #Africa #events or #data releases today
[Posts & comments at my Twitter handle @DrRafiqRaji]
- #SouthAfrica state of the nation #SONA address by #Ramaphosa today
- 2nd day of #Guinea’s #Conde visit to #Ethiopia
- #SouthAfrica foreign exchange reserves #FXR data for Jan-19 expected [prev. $51.64B]
Key #Africa #events or #data releases yesterday & early a.m today
[Posted & commented on some headlines below at my Twitter handle @DrRafiqRaji]
- Sudan’s Bashir softens tone dramatically, says reporter to be released
- #Libya’s sovereign wealth fund #SWF chairman detained – official
- Eastern #Libya forces take over El Sharara oilfield
- #US halts military assistance to #Cameroon over #humanrights concerns – official
- #Nigeria leader’s ally says foreigners who intervene in poll face ‘body bags’
- #France jets strike #Chad rebels to head off Deby destabilisation
- ‘The corpses were lying on the streets’: #Nigeria refugees flee Boko Haram
- Staff picket HQ of #SouthAfrica’s #Eskom over potential job cuts
- #Africa Crude – #Nigeria diffs hold, but overhang and low European demand loom
- #SouthAfrica’s #Sibanye-Stillwater expects 2019 EBITDA to double, eyes gold acquisitions
- #Ethiopia ex-official pleads not guilty to fomenting ethnic violence
- #Guinea not flexible on #Simandou #infrastructure – minister
- #Zimbabwe’s opposition MDC snubs #Mnangagwa talks, wants outside mediator
- Rights group accuses #BurkinaFaso army of executions following anti-militant operations
- #Angola’s Endiama sees #diamond output rising to 13.8 mln carats by 2022
- #Algeria brain drain is pre-election headache for govt
- #SouthAfrica arrests whistle-blower #Agrizzi on #corruption charges
- #Tunisia teachers protest for higher wages, better work conditions
- #Egypt’s #centralbanks has received $2 bln tranche of #IMF loan – MENA
- #Egypt #unemployment drops to 8.9 pct in Q4 2018 – prime minister
- #Nigeria orders 12 military aircraft from #Brazil’s Embraer
- #Congo 2018 copper output up 12. 9 pct to 1.2 mln T – Chamber of Commerce
- #SouthAfrica #businessconfidence index falls in January
- #AtlasMara begins strategic review as #Diamond takes a back seat
- #UN-backed govt dispatches force to #Libya’s Sharara #oil field, al Jazeera TV says
- #Egypt’s Zohr #gas field output rises to 2.1 bln cubic feet per day
N.B. Full stories of above headlines are available @Reuters, @ReutersAfrica
