African Markets – Factors to Watchout for
The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Wednesday.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Concerns over escalating hostilities in the Middle East stayed front and centre in markets on Wednesday, sending oil prices higher and investors rushing for the safety of U.S. Treasuries and the dollar while dumping stocks.
WORLD OIL PRICES
Oil prices ticked up in early trading on Wednesday after ending the previous session up more than 4% on worries that the Iran-Israel conflict could disrupt supplies.
SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS
The South African rand was down marginally on Tuesday, despite fragile risk sentiment driven by the Israel-Iran conflict, and ahead of key domestic economic data on Wednesday.
KENYA MARKETS
The Kenyan shilling held steady on Tuesday, according to data from London Stock Exchange Group.
AFRICA BANKING
The chances of Afreximbank getting involved in a debt restructuring have increased, JPMorgan said on Tuesday, a development that could prompt ratings agency Fitch to lower the lender’s rating to junk and force some investors to sell its bonds.
ZIMBABWE CURRENCY
Zimbabwe’s gold-backed currency now has more than 100% reserve cover and is stable, according to the central bank, but doubts over its credibility remain, underscored by a persistent premium in the parallel market.
IVORY COAST COCOA
Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast have reached 1.540 million metric tons at the end of May, compared with exporters’ estimates of 1.624 million tons for the same period, Yves Brahima Kone, managing director of the national regulator, said on Tuesday.
