July 18 (Reuters) – The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Thursday.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian equities fell on Thursday, led by chip stocks as investors fret over the prospect of escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China, while the yen surged to a six-week high in the wake of suspected interventions by Tokyo last week.

WORLD OIL PRICES

Oil prices extended gains from the previous session on Thursday, buoyed by a bigger-than-expected decline last week in crude stockpiles in the United States, the world’s largest oil consumer.

SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS

The South African rand dropped sharply on Wednesday, as investors dumped riskier assets globally because of worries over the state of the world economy and geopolitical risks after U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump’s remarks on Taiwan.

NIGERIA MARKETS

Nigeria’s naira fell to 1,612.50 per dollar on the official market on Wednesday, its lowest level in four months, LSEG data showed.

KENYA MARKETS

Kenya’s shilling was stable on Wednesday as foreign exchange inflows from tea exports matched dollar demand, traders said.

NIGERIA ECONOMY

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve an additional spending of 6.2 trillion naira ($4 billion) to plug shortfalls in this year’s national budget, according to a letter read to lawmakers on Wednesday.

ZIMBABWE CURRENCY

Zimbabwe’s government will stick to what it promised when it launched a new currency in April by ensuring it remains fully backed by reserves, the central bank governor told Reuters on Wednesday, adding that was the only way to build trust.

NIGERIA OIL

TotalEnergies has sold its minority share in a major Nigerian onshore oil joint venture to Mauritius-based Chappal Energies for $860 million, the French energy group said on Wednesday.

((Compiled by Nairobi Newsroom))