Credit: Reuters
The
following company announcements, scheduled economic Indicators, debt and
currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on
Monday,
August 6, 2012
Events:
Mauritius,
Seychelles to release their inflation data for July.
Global
Markets:
Asian
shares rallied to a three-month high and the euro touched a one-month high
against the dollar on Monday, as a Stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data and
emerging optimism for European action on the debt crisis bolstered risk
appetite.
World
Oil Prices:
Brent
crude dropped toward $108 a barrel on Monday as a recent surge in prices gave
some investors a chance to sell their holdings for profit, while more data was
eyed for clues on the health of the global economy and the outlook for oil
demand.
Africa
Currencies:
Uganda's
shilling is likely to fall against the dollar this week after a surprisingly
large cut in the central bank's main interest rate, while its Kenyan
counterpart may gain due to firm foreign interest in its domestic
debt.
Africa
Debt:
Yields
on Kenyan government debt are expected to fall further next week as a surge in
liquidity and lower returns on repurchase agreements, or repos, send commercial
banks back to the debt market.
South
Africa Markets:
South
Africa's rand climbed to a two-week high against the dollar on Friday after
positive data out of the United States boosted investors’ appetite for risk,
briefly driving the rand through 8.15 resistance.
South
Africa's All-share index booked its highest close in its 17-year history on
Friday, rising 0.65 percent as better-than-expected U.S. jobs data boosted
appetite for riskier assets such as equities.
Nigeria
Markets:
Nigeria's
interbank lending rates jumped this week to an average of 17 percent from 14.08
percent last week after the central bank introduced further liquidity
tightening measures to support the local currency and curb
Inflation.
Nigeria
Security:
A
suicide car bomber attacked a military checkpoint in Nigeria's northeastern
city of Damaturu on Sunday, killing six soldiers and two civilians, police
said. Suspicion is likely to fall on Islamist sect Boko Haram, which is waging
a bloody insurgency against President Goodluck Jonathan's government across the
north.
Kenya
Markets:
Kenyan
shares halted a four-session decline on Friday as demand picked up for high-capitalization
stocks on expectations that they would
perform better in the second half of the
year, while the shilling firmed slightly against
the dollar. The Nairobi securities Exchange benchmark index
rose
0.5 percent to 3,843.58 points. The shilling closed at 83.10/30 per dollar at
the close of trade, slightly up from Thursday's close of 84.20/40.
Kenya
Politics:
U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Kenya on Saturday to hold free and
fair elections and be a role model for Africa, underlining the need to avoid
the bloodshed and economic loss suffered during the last vote five years ago.
Kenya
Airways Job Cuts:
Kenya
Airways plans to shed staff through voluntary retirement, redundancies and
outsourcing of non-core roles in order to contain soaring costs and protect its
bottom line, it said on Friday, but unions said they would fight the job
cuts.
Kenya
Sasini:
Kenyan
tea and coffee producer Sasini SASN.NR warned on Friday its profit would fall
by more than 25 percent in the year to end-September due to weaker coffee
prices and high input and labour costs.
Tanzania
Economy:
Tanzania's
economy grew 7.1 percent year on year in the first three months of the year,
faster than 6.1 percent in the same period last year, the National Bureau of
Statistics said on Friday.
Rwanda
Trade:
Rwanda
has introduced an electronic clearing system that is expected to shorten the
time taken for goods to cross its borders, cut costs for businesses and boost
regional trade, government officials said on Friday.
Zambia
Mining:
Zambian
miners killed a Chinese supervisor and seriously wounded another on Saturday in
a pay dispute at the Collum coal mine, labour minister Fackson Shamenda said on
Sunday.
