By Rafiq Raji, PhD
Twitter: @DrRafiqRaji, @macroafrica

Global Markets

• Asian stocks shrug off Sino-US tension to resume gains
• Dollar slipping and stocks on the march
• MSCI AxJ +1%, Nikkei +1.7%, Hang Seng +2.2%
• US-China trade talks eyed
• Brent last up 0.4% at $45.16

Oil Markets

• Oil firms on US stimulus hopes, Asian demand recovery
• Brent up 0.2% at $45.06 a barrel (0027GMT)
• WTI up 0.3% at $42.08

Precious metals

• Gold slips as dollar bounces, focus on US-China row
• Spot gold down 0.5% at $2,017.98/oz. (0234GMT)
• US gold futures down 0.6% at $2,028.10/oz.

Grains

• Corn jumps 1% on USDA crop condition report
• Corn futures up 0.9% at $3.25-3/4 a bushel (0056GMT)
• Soybeans up 0.1% at $8.74-1/2 a bushel
• Wheat up 0.5% at $4.93-1/2 a bushel

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

• South Africa manufacturing production Jun-20 [fcst. -51.6% yy prev. -49.4%]
• South Africa state capture inquiry continues
• Key African countries on lockdown or restricted; subdued economic activity
• Covid-19 updates by authorities across the continent

Key African events or data releases yesterday & early a.m today

• At least 10 dead in Ethiopia protests over autonomy – health officials
• Tunisia PM designate to form techncratic govt without parties
• At least 6 killed as Somalia security forces put out prison uprising
• Mauritius must brace for ‘worst case scenario’ after oil spill, says PM
• Islamic court in northern Nigeria sentences man to death for blasphemy
• Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation fell to 4.2% in July – CAPMAS
• France helps hunt for killers of aid workers in Niger
• Namibia to auction fishing quota to raise money for Covid-19 medicines
• Aid group ACTED says 4 women, 4 men killed in Niger
• Army says east Congo militia killed 16 villagers
• Algeria court jails journalist three years
• Ivory Coast cocoa outlook good despite below-average rain – farmers
• Anxious Mauritians uses hair to stem Japan ship’s oil spill
• France & Niger determined in battle against terrorists in Sahel – Le Drian
• France’s counter-terrorism prosecutor investigates Niger killings
• Kenya’s famed wildebeest migration begins without foreign tourist crowds
• Residents fight upscale evictions in Kenya conservation push
• Egypt mulls law to protect women’s identities as MeToo movement escalates

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