By Rafiq Raji, PhD
Twitter: @DrRafiqRaji

Global Markets

• Asia stocks edge up as weak data lift stimulus hopes
• MSCI Asia-Pacific index up 0.1%, Nikkei gains 0.4%
• Stocks up amid US, China & eurozone stimulus hopes
• Euro capped with ECB expected to cut rates later this week

Oil Markets

• Oil rises as Saudi Arabia signals OPEC cuts to continue under new energy minister
• Brent up 7 cents at $61.61 a barrel (0106GMT)
• WTI up 20 cents at $56.72

Precious metals

• Gold inches up on hopes of economic stimulus
• Spot gold up 0.3% at $1,511.30/oz. (0117GMT)
• US gold futures up 0.2% at $1,518.5/oz.

Grains

• Corn rebounds from 4-mth low; US harvest prospects cap gains
• Wheat futures unchanged at $4.63-3/4 per bushel (0139GMT)
• Corn futures up 0.4% at $3.56-3/4 per bushel
• Soy futures up 0.1% at $8.58-3/4 per bushel
• Rice futures down 0.2% at $11.95 per hundredweight

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

• South Africa state capture inquiry resumes

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

• 29 killed in 2 attacks in Burkina Faso
• Experts challenge WHO with “epic” goal to eradicate malaria by 2050
• Zimbabwe – Mugabe’s family pushes back against govt burial plan
• Sudan tribes sign peace deal after deadly clashes in Port Sudan
• Mugabe’s funeral & burial planned for next weekend – Zimbabwe govt memo
• Televised debates a new step in Tunisia’s young democracy
• Egypt’s Fawry eyes UAE deal, Saudi & Kuwaiti markets
• Armed robbery takes place at office at Libya state oil firm in Tripoli
• Nigeria’s Buhari to visit South Africa after attacks
• Zimbabweans mourn founder Mugabe but confused over burial
• Zimbabwe – In Mugabe’s village, relatives say he was very bitter before death
• Libya – 3 killed in renewed fighting in southern Tripoli – witness
• Sudan’s Bashir kept key to room with millions of euros, court hears
• AU lifts Sudan suspension after transitional govt appointed
• Zimbabwe president declares Mugabe a national hero
• Former inmate tours Ethiopia torture centre after it opens to the public
• Prince Harry to visit Diana’s Angola landmine project
• South Africa – Fired Old Mutual boss plans return to work as court rules against insurer
• South Africa’s Denel to exit some businesses within months
• Families press for memorial at Ethiopian Airlines crash site
• South Africa court rules in favour of sacked Oid Mutual CEO – TV
• Madagascar forest destruction wiping out humans’ tiniest relative
• Zimbabwe Mugabe’s legacy: thousands killed in “rain that washes away the chaff”
• MTN Nigeria shares hit 3-mth high after partial reopening
• Zimbabwe Mugabe’s farm seizures: racial justice or castastrophic power grab?
• Ethiopia should slowly liberalise its exchange rate – central bank governor
• South Africa’s Sasol to release delayed results by Oct. 31
• Attackers kill 2 aid workers in western Ethiopia
• South Africa’s net foreign reserves rise to $44.226 bln in August
• South Africa auto sector in line for $4 bln investment boost – industry body
• Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe dies in Singapore

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