By Rafiq Raji, PhD
Twitter: @DrRafiqRaji

Global Markets

• Asian shares adrift as tariff deadline looms
• Investors wary as trade deadline draws closer
• Nikkei flat, ASX drifts higher
• Pound wobbles as projected Conservative majority shrinks

Oil Markets

• Oil prices slip on surprise US crude inventory build
• US crude stocks rise by 1.4 mln bbls – API data
• Analysts had been expecting a drop in inventory
• Investors eye China-US trade negotiations for trading cues
• Brent down 0.6% at $63.97 a barrel (0121GMT)
• WTI down 0.5% at $58.94

Precious metals (10 Dec)

• Palladium breaches $1,900 ceiling after South Africa outages
• Spot gold settled up 0.1% at $1,463.88/oz.
• US gold futures settled up 0.2% at $1,468.10/oz.

Grains

• Soybeans fall for first time in 7 sessions
• Soybean futures down 0.1% at $9.00 a bushel (0221GMT)
• Corn futures down 0.1% at $3.76-3/4 a bushel
• Wheat futures down 0.1% at $5.23 a bushel

Key African events or data releases today
[Posts & comments at my Twitter handle @DrRafiqRaji]

• Aswan forum in Egypt; 11-12 Dec [Nigeria’s Buhari et al. attending; Ramaphosa cuts short trip]
• South Africa’s Ramaphosa to meet Eskom executives
• South Africa inflation Nov-19 [fcst. 3.6% yy, prev. 3.7%]
• South Africa retail sales Oct-19 [fcst. 0.5% yy, prev. 0.2%]
• Kenya’s docked maverick Nairobi county governor Sonko bail hearing

Key African events or data releases yesterday & early a.m today

• US imposes sanctions on Islamist rebels in eastern Congo
• Ethiopia deploys police in universities to stop ethnic violence
• South African mines grind to halt as floods deepen power crisis
• Rape map and murdered men – welcome to South Africa’s Republic of Sexual Abuse
• Al Shabaab gunmen attack hotel near president’s residence in Somali capital – police, group
• Petra Diamonds restarts South African mines
• Africa Oil – Freight rates swell as Angolan glut looms
• Unregulated teak trade fuelling South Sudanese violence – report
• African cities bet on new technology to fix growing water shortages
• Libya approves Total’s purchase of stake in Waha concessions
• South African rand tumbles on blackouts shock, platinum and gold shares shine
• Brazil’s Embraer signs $194.4 mln deal for 2 E175 jets with Congo Airways
• Nigerian stocks fall for seventh session to 1-mth low
• Alphabet’s Loon agrees airspace deal with Uganda for internet balloon service
• Algeria set for presidential election denounced by protesters as charade
• South Africa’s rand, Eskom dollar bonds hit by load shedding
• Madagascar to raise minerals taxes, take 20% stake in mining projects
• Angolan ex-president’s son on trial in rare corruption case
• Sudan’s Bashir questioned over 1989 coup that brought him to power
• Nobel peace laureate Abiy says militants, global powers threaten Horn of Africa
• South Africa’s Ramaphosa cuts short Egypt trip over power crisis
• Gambia asks UN judges to impose measures to protect Myanmar’s Rohingya
• Kenya’s coffee crop nosedives due to high temperatures, low prices
• South Africa’s Tongaat seeks new chapter with equity raise, debt restructure
• 2 days before election. Algeria jails 2 ex-prime ministers
• Egypt’s core inflation falls to 2.1% in Nov from 2.7% in Oct – central bank
• Rwanda’s inflation jumps to 6.9% y/y in Nov. – stats office
• South Africa’s Eskom plans more load shedding, says crisis manageable
• South Africa mining companies cut production due to power shortages
• Kenyan shilling unchanged against the dollar

N.B. Full stories of above headlines are available on Reuters