By Rafiq Raji, PhD
Twitter: @DrRafiqRaji

Global Markets

• Asian shares slip, looming US-China trade talks in focus
• US border deal deal talks collapse, govt shutdown looms
• Dollar index near 6-wk high

Oil Markets

• Oil prices fall as US rig count rise, trade concerns
• US Wood River refinery outage weighs on WTI
• Rosneft pressures Putin to end supply cuts with OPEC
• But US sanctions against Venezuela support crude prices
• Brent down 0.8 pct at $61.61 per barrel (0347GMT)
• US WTI down 1.2 pct at $52.09 per barrel

Precious metals

• Gold prices hold firm on trade, growth concerns
• Spot gold steady at $1,313 per ounce (0059GMT)
• US gold futures firm at $1,317 per ounce

Grains

• Soybean prices inch up, creep away from 3-wk low
• Most active CBOT wheat futures unchanged at $5.17-1/4 per bushel (0112GMT)
• Most active corn futures up 0.1 pct at $3.74-3/4 per bushel
• Most active soy futures up about 0.2 pct at $9.16 per bushel
• Most active rice futures down about 0.1 pct at $10.36 per hundredweight

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

• Nigeria’s judicial council to decide suspended chief justice Onnoghen’s fate today
• South Africa state capture inquiry resumes
• African Union meeting of heads of state continues in Addis Ababa

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

• Libyan force stops plane in campaign for south
• Egypt forecasts weaker average exchange rate for FY 2018/19
• Sudan security forces use tear gas to break up women’s protest
• Zimbabwe teachers’ unions suspend national strike
• Egypt sees average oil price of $67 for 2019-20 budget
• Algeria’s president Bouteflika to seek fifth term – APS agency
• Final investment decision for Mozambique gas block seen by March-April
• Egypt core inflation rises to 8.6 pct y/y in January – cbank
• UN-recognised govt of Libya says its forces reach El Sharara oilfield
• South Sudan to return to pre-war oil production levels by mid-2020: minister
• South Africa’s Eskom to implement power cuts over capacity constraint
• Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation rises to 12.7 pct in Jan – CAPMAS
• East Libya forces launch air strikes near el Feel oilfield – engineer
• 7 jailed for life over Tunisia musuem, hotel massacres
• Algeria energy revenue up 15 pct in 2018, trade deficit down
• Marriott teams up with Kuwait Projects on St Regis resort in Morocco
• Scores of Chadian rebels held after French air strikes
• Chad army says more than 250 rebels held after French airstrikes
• Libya’s NOC discusses Sharara oil field crisis with Repsol
• Sudan forces fire tear gas at Khartoum mosque – witnesses
• Africa Crude – Nigeria differentials down on port power failure
• EU wheat recovers from 2-mth low as Egypt demand lends support
• Libya arrests suspected al-Qaeda leader, source says
• Uganda frees BBC journalists detained over drugs investigation
• Ivory Coast pariliament speaker resigns ahead of possible presidential run
• India’s Bharti Airtel unit to merge with Telkom Kenya
• Morocco recalls envoy to Saudi Arabia for consultations – Morocco media
• Mandela’s life and legacy celebrated in London exhibition
• Rand volatility rises as investors turn bearish after Ramaphosa speech
• Zimbabwe miner RioZim again suspends production over dollar payments
• Glencore’s Zambia unit suspends operations after 3 workers die in fire
• South Africa’s NUM union tells Ramaphosa to scrap Eskom split plan
• Kenya shilling unchanged as importer demand is matched by remittance flows
• South Africa’s Harmony Gold expects drop in half-year earnings per share
• South Africa’s Eskom bonds rise on Ramaphosa’s pledge to split utility

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