By Rafiq Raji, PhD
Twitter: @DrRafiqRaji
Global Markets
- Asia shares up on Fed outlook
- Aussie dollar seesaws after strong jobs data
- Fed minutes (29-30 Jan meeting) provide some relief
- Investors expect US, China to reach trade deal next month
Oil Markets
- Oil ticks over near 2019 highs amid OPEC cuts
- But economic slowdown applies brakes
- Brent up 6 cents at $67.14 per barrel (0256GMT)
- WTI up 17 cents at $57.33
Precious metals
- Gold hovers near 10-mth peak amid steady dollar after Fed minutes
- Spot gold up 0.1 pct at $1,339.99 per ounce (0054GMT)
- US gold futures down 0.4 pct at $1,342.5 per ounce
Grains
- Wheat prices inch up from 7-mth low, but soybeans edge down
- Most active CBOT wheat futures up 0.4 pct at $4.82-1/2 per bushel (0157GMT)
- Most active corn futures up about 0.1 pct at $3.71 per bushel
- Most active soy futures down 0.1 pct at $9.01-1/2 per bushel
- Most active rice futures up 0.4 pct at $10.21 per hundredweight
Key African events or data releases today
[Posts & comments at my Twitter handle @DrRafiqRaji]
- Ghana state of the nation address (SONA) by Akufo-Addo today
- Speech by presidential contender of main opposition Nigerian party expected
- Rwanda central bank to present monetary policy & financial stability statement
Key African events or data releases yesterday & early a.m today
[Posted & commented on some headlines below at my Twitter handle @DrRafiqRaji]
- South Africa’s Steinhoff gets shareholder petition for inquiry before Dutch court
- South Africa’s Woolworths half-year earnings drop
- France sale to Egypt helps lift EU wheat off 7-mth low
- South Africa pledges $5 bln Eskom bailout as budget creaks
- Zimbabwe scraps bond-note dollar peg, paves way for exchange rate slide
- South Africa’s budget shows limited fiscal flexibility – Moody’s
- Africa Crude – Nigeria April programmes expected, tenders in focus
- Egypt executes nine over public prosecutor’s killing
- South Africa’s rand flat after slipping in knee-jerk reaction to budget
- UN reports mass rape, killings, torture in South Sudan, seeks oil scrutiny
- Tunisia central bank sees inflation below 7 pct after rate rise
- Sudan’s economic decline provides fuel for anger against Bashir
- Zambia, Zimbabwe shortlist foreign firms to build hydro plant
- Ivory Coast cuts 2019 cashew farmgate price 25 pct
- Deutsche Bank to rebuild in South Africa, months after cuts
- US, Britain, Norway alarmed at escalationg violence in South Sudan
- EU illegal migrants arrivals fall but stronger borders needed – Frontex head
- Bank Audi studies buying National Bank of Greece’s Egypt unit – source
- Petrol suppliers cut price to encourage Nigerians to travel to vote again
- “Two is enough”, Egypt tells poor families as population booms
- Libya’s ancient ruins blighted by theft, shunned by tourists
- Zimbabwe scraps bond note, US dollar peg – central bank
- Tunisia central bank chief says raising rates not enough to curb inflation
- Zimbabwe launches forex interbank market amid currency crunch
- South Africa Eskom dollar bonds broadly gain after budget
- South Africa to bail out Eskom without taking on debts
- VW South Africa targets record output despite headwinds
- South Africa dollar bonds fall after growth forecasts slashed in budget
- South Africa’s Eskom to get 69 bln rand bailout over 3 years
- Barrick outlines proposal to settle Acacia dispute with Tanzania
- South Africa miner Sibanye raises loss estimate by $100 mln-plus
- Tanzania rebases economy, 2015 GDP now 3.8 pct larger – stats office
- Egypt issues $4 bln in foreign currency bonds – finance ministry
- Zambia finmin orders cleanup of public payroll
- ‘No place to sell’: thousands hit in Zimbabwe clampdown on street vendors
- Zambia debt weighing on central bank reserves – governor
- Kenya paves way for green bonds in 2019 with new rules
- Egypt executes 9 men over killing of public prosecutor
- Chinese “Ivory Queen” smuggler sentenced to 15 years in jail in Tanzania
- Uganda ruling party backs Museveni re-election bid
- South Africa’s EOH Holdings founder and chair resigns
- Kenya shilling steady, expected to firm due to remittance inflows
- Egypt will issue more international bonds by end June – minister
- South Africa consumer inflation falls to 4.0 pct in January
- South Africa Bidcorp HY profit rise on upbeat European market
N.B. Full stories of above headlines are available on Reuters
