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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))