By Rafiq Raji, PhD
Twitter: @DrRafiqRaji
Global Markets
- Asia relieved at latest trade truce, China data disappoints
- Nikkei futures rise, trade thin with Tokyo on holiday
- Shares up on relief at Sino-US trade progress
- But caution as China export, import data disappoint
- Sterling rally pauses as EU summit looms over Brexit
Oil Markets
- Oil prices edge up, supported by Iran ship attack, US-China trade détente
- Prices rise 2% on Friday after Iran tanker attack
- Traders eye US-China pact, details of phase 1 agreement
- Brent up 9 cents at $60.60 a barrel (0008GMT)
- WTI up 9 cents at $54.79
Precious metals
- Gold slips as renewed trade optimism lifts risk appetite
- Spot gold down 0.3% at $1,485.56/oz. (0036GMT)
- US gold futures up 0.1% at $1,489.90/oz.
Grains
- Soybeans climb to 16-mth high on US-China trade optimism
- Wheat futures up 0.6% at $5.11 per bushel (0058GMT)
- Corn futures up 0.7% at $4.00-1/2 per bushel
- Soy futures up 0.9% at $9.44-3/4 per bushel
- Rice futures down 0.2% at $12.04 per hundredweight
Key African events or data releases today
[Posts & comments at my Twitter handle @DrRafiqRaji]
- South Africa’s Ramaphosa to deliver keynote opening speech at FT Africa summit in London
- Nigeria inflation Sep-19 [fcst. 11.1% yy, prev. 11.0%]
- South Africa’s Zuma graft trial tomorrow; 15 Oct
Key African events or data releases over the weekend & early a.m today
[Posted & commented on some headlines below at my Twitter handle @DrRafiqRaji]
- Supporters of Tunisia’s Saied celebrate his projected presidential win
- Algeria plans wealth, property tax for first time
- Second exit poll gives Kais Saied landslide win in Tunisian election
- Hundreds of Algerians protest against proposed energy law
- Voting ends in Tunisian presidential election runoff
- Mortar bombs strike Somalia’s Mogadishu airport, 6 injured – source
- Soccer – Neymar injured as Brazil draw 1-1 with Nigeria in friendly
- Leaders of Egypt and Ethiopia to meet on Nile dam standoff – Sisi
- Congo to start using J&J ebola vaccine in November
- Egypt cuts stocks exchange fees in bid to boost investments
- Foreign election monitors concerned by detention of Tunisian candidate
- At least 10 Kenyan police killed by bomb near Somali border – police
- A son and father reunited, like many under Nobel winner Abiy’s Ethiopia-Eritrea peace deal
- Gunmen kill about 15 people in attack on Burkina Faso mosque
- Zimbabwe court rules doctors strike illegal, should return to work
- Guinea’s Nimba iron ore project gets green light to export via Liberia
- Cargo plane crashes in Congo with presidential staff on board
- Burkinabes flee their homes en masse as violence spirals – UN
- Morocco’s BCP bank buys Congo’s BCI bank
- South Africa’s rand races to 3-wk high on easing trade war, Brexit tensions
- Moroccan king urges more loans for graduates and entrepreneurs
- Africa Oil – Nigerian crude diffs crash as freight rates bite
- Gabon’s GDP growth to rise to 3.4% this year – IMF
- Go home, Tanzanian president tells Burundian refugees
- Nigerian president calls for stricter laws on sex abuse
- Mozambique’s elections to test fragile peace
- Nigeria looks to sign military cooperation deal with Russia this month
- US imposes sanctions on 2 South Sudanese businessmen for fraud, bribery
- Algeria’s protesters march against ruling elite as elections approach
- Ethiopia’s Abiy wins Nobel Peace Prize for resolving conflict with Eritrea
- Lawyer for imprisoned Tanzanian journalist seeks plea bargain
- Ivory Coast cocoa grind up 8.3% to end-September – exporter stats
- Uber launches boat service in Nigeria’s megacity Lagos
- Uganda shilling weakens as rate cut spurs banks to beef up positions
- South Africa’s Zuma to face corruption trial
- Ethiopian PM ‘humbled, thrilled’ with Nobel Peace Prize
- Starkly different candidates vie for Tunisia’s presidency
- Eni plans to quadruple gasoline output at Angolan refinery by 2021
- Ethiopia Nobel Peace Prize winner ruffles feathers at home
- Ethiopia “proud as a nation” over Nobel Peace Prize – PM Abiy’s office
- Vast Resources to sign diamonds joint venture deal in Zimbabwe
- Nigeria’s state oil company signs $2.5 bln pre-payment deal for gas projects
- South African arms company Denel winds up Aerostructures
- South Africa’s Zuma to face corruption trial after court denies stay of prosecution
- South Africa’s Eskom challenges latest power tariff decision in court
- Hopes around US-China trade talks bolster South African rand
- Kenya farmers snap crops with phones to improve insurance payouts
- Conflicting signals over Royal Air Maroc 737 MAX plans
N.B. Full stories of above headlines are available on Reuters