Trump/Putin summit, UnitedHealth and Japan’s GDP - what’s moving markets
NAIROBI, Oct 29 - The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Thursday.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian stock markets fell on Thursday but not as sharply as Wall Street's rout overnight, while oil bounced off lows and U.S. futures jumped, as Asia's brighter economic outlook offset investor worries about fresh COVID-19 lockdowns in Europe.
WORLD OIL PRICES
Oil prices rose in early trading on Thursday, regaining some of the ground lost in a 5% slump overnight, amid the prospect of tighter short-term supply with two-thirds of U.S. output shut in the Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Zeta slammed Louisiana.
SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS
South Africa plans to freeze public sector wages for the next three years to help cut its salary bill as part of measures to arrest a yawning budget deficit, raising the risk of widespread strikes by its 1.3 million-strong public sector workforce.
AFRICA GAS
French oil major Total (TOTF.PA) has made a second significant gas condensate discovery off the coast of South Africa, an important step towards developing a new field.
ELECTION
Polls closed in Tanzania's elections on Wednesday with President John Magufuli eyeing a second, five-year term in a contest with 14 challengers, amid complaints of restricted internet access and accusations of fraud.
STOCKS
Nigerian stocks climbed to a nine-month high on Wednesday after round-the-clock curfews imposed last week to curb protests over alleged police brutality eased and investors piled into consumer goods shares.
MARKETS
Kenya's shilling (KES=) was stable against the dollar on Wednesday as the market remained weary of any interventions by the central bank, traders said.
ZAMBIA DEBT
Zambia has reached deal to defer debt repayments that were due this month on a loan from the China Development Bank (CDB), Zambia's government said, without giving the size of the loan or the debt repayments that were due.
DEFICIT
Botswana expects its budget deficit to narrow to 5.9% of GDP next year from 7.89% in 2020 on a recovery in diamond revenue, a previously unpublished budget blueprint seen by Reuters showed.
ECONOMY
Somalia's economy is expected to shrink by 2.5% this year, the World Bank said on Wednesday, revising its initial forecast of 3.2% growth due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis.