African Markets – Factors to watch on May 18
NAIROBI, May 18 (Reuters) – The following company announcements, scheduled economic
indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on
Friday. – – – – – GLOBAL MARKETS Asian stocks edged up on Friday as investors kept a cautious watch on developments in U.S.-China trade negotiations, with the dollar perched near a five-month peak after the benchmark U.S. Treasury yield hit its highest in seven years. WORLD OIL PRICES Oil prices held firm on Friday on strong demand, ongoing supply cuts led by producer cartel OPEC and looming U.S. sanctions against major crude exporter Iran. EMERGING MARKETS For the top emerging markets news, double click on AFRICA STOCKS For the latest news on African stocks, click on SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS South Africa’s rand weakened early on Thursday, giving up the previous session’s gains as investors short on the local and other emerging currencies were squeezed out of those positions by a swift, albeit brief turnaround in the Turkish lira. NIGERIA OIL The world’s three largest oil traders are competing to buy the African arm of Brazil’s Petrobras that owns stakes in two major Nigerian offshore oil blocks, industry and banking sources with knowledge of the matter said, after submitting bids earlier this month. KENYA MARKETS The Kenyan shilling was stable on Thursday due to inflows from portfolio investors balancing out demand from oil importers, traders said. ZIMBABWE MINING Zimbabwe has a small window of up to 24 months to start producing battery grade lithium and ride the wave of high prices, miners said on Thursday, but the country’s high political risk made financing projects difficult. ANGOLA INVESTMENT Angola’s parliament approved unanimously on Thursday a new law to facilitate private investment into sub-Saharan Africa’s third largest economy, doing away with the need for local partners and a minimum spend of one million dollars. GHANA COCOA Ghana’s Cocobod appointed five lenders, including Amro Bank and Bank of China 601988.SS, to arrange its $1.3 bln syndicated loan to finance 2018/19 crop purchases, the regulator said on Thursday. For the latest precious metals report click on For the latest base metals report click on For the latest crude oil report click on
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