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

Global Markets

• Asia stocks, oil buckle on uncertain US recovery
• Equities weak across Asia in wake of Fed minutes
• China tensions, coronavirus weigh on some markets
• Oil falls, gold rises as sentiment weakens
• Brent down 0.8% at $45.03, gold up 0.5% at $1,939.28/oz.

Oil Markets

• Oil eases on demand risks, US stockpile data
• Brent down 0.6% at $45.09 a barrel (0049GMT)
• WTI down 0.7% at $42.62

Precious metals

• Gold rebounds as recovery fears resurface post Fed minutes
• Spot gold up 0.9% at $1,946.09/oz. (0307GMT)
• US gold futures down 0.9% at $1,952.90/oz.

Grains

• Soybeans ease from 7-mth high, US dryness limits decline
• Soybean futures down 0.1% at $9.13-1/2 a bushel (0307GMT)
• Corn down 0.2% at $3.39-1/4 a bushel
• Wheat down 0.2% at $5.21 a bushel

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

• ECOWAS heads of state & govt meet virtually on Mali
• Bank of Botswana decides interest rates [fcst. 4.25%, prev. 4.25%]
• Nigeria finance minister Ahmed et al. appear before Senate committee on 2012-23 MTEF
• Ghana presidential frontrunners Akufo-Addo & Mahama tour regions
• South Africa state capture inquiry continues
• Kenya’s Kenyatta cabinet reshuffle back in focus
• 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

• Mali protest leader steps back as coup leaders promise election
• Ivory Coast finance ministry suspends financial ties with Mali
• South Sudan central bank says foreign exchange reserves have run out
• Supporters of Egypt’s Sisi set to dominate newly created Senate
• After meeting Mali mutineers, protest leader Dicko to step back from politics
• OPEC+ presses for compliance with oil cuts
• At least 45 African migrants die off Libya in worst shipwreck of 2020 – UN
• UN Security Council condemns mutiny in Mali, urges soldiers to return to barracks
• France demands immediate release of Mali’s ousted president
• Equatorial Guinea reappoints Prime Minister Asue after govt resignation
• Mauritius to scuttle oil-spill tanker, Japanese owner apologises
• Zambia vice president tests positive for Covid-19
• South Sudan central bank says it has run out of FX reserves
• Mali’s gold miners carry on digging despite coup, shares hit
• Nespresso launches coffee range sourced from eastern Congo
• Egypt says from Sept all those entering country must show virus test results
• South African fraudster tricks credit bureau Experian into handing over data
• Egypt electoral list dominated by Sisi supporters wins Senate election
• EU wheat consolidates as traders weigh Algeria purchase
• South Africa’s Eskom extends power cuts into Thursday
• AU suspends Mali’s membership after coup
• Russia’s Novak calls for strict OPEC+ deal compliance
• EU says Mali coup crisis could destabilize whole region
• South Africa investigates Covid-linked corruption of $290 mln
• Sierra Leone court freezes Steinmetz’s Octea assets
• Stored crude, condensate could be shipped from shuttered Libya ports
• Sudan fires foreign ministry spokesman following Israel remarks
• West Africa’s G5 Sahel force calls for release of Mali president
• South Africa’s Denel made $99 mln annual loss, ministry says
• Mining companies in Mali say gold production continues despite crisis
• Kenya woman’s ordeal highlights newly identified sex trafficking route
• South Africa game reserve turns to meat sales to survive pandemic
• China, on Mali president resignation, says opposes regime change by force
• South Africa’s Truworths flags full-year profit decline, impairs Office
• Mali soldiers promise civilian transition after president’s ouster
• Saudi King Salman, Nigeria president discuss oil market – SPA

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