The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Friday.
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GLOBAL MARKETS Asian stocks advanced on Friday after a top Federal Reserve official cemented expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut later this month, fuelling appetite for riskier assets and keeping a cap on the dollar. MKTS/GLOB
WORLD OIL PRICES Oil prices climbed around 2% on Friday after the U.S. Navy destroyed an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz, a major chokepoint for global crude flows, again raising tensions in the Middle East. O/R
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SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS South Africa's rand rallied against the dollar on Thursday and bond yields fell after the central bank cut its main lending rate by 25 basis points in a widely expected move to counter floundering economic growth. STOCKS Nigerian stocks dropped for a seventh straight session on Thursday to a 26-month low after shares of oil company Seplat SEPLAT.LG and the banking sector declined. CURRENCIES Kenyan currency forecast to weaken, Tanzanian shilling to hold steady while Nigeria's naira could ease. MARKETS The Kenyan shilling KES= held steady against the dollar on Thursday with inflows from offshore investors buying government debt offering support against excess liquidity in the local money markets, traders said. AIRLINES Tanzania's government will buy two new Airbus AIR.PA jets and one plane from Bombardier Inc BBDb.TO as part of a fleet expansion plan for the national flag carrier, the president said on Thursday. ECONOMY Tanzania's statistics agency said on Thursday it may review its economic growth figure for 2018 after the World Bank came up with a significantly lower one. COAST COCOA Ivory Coast's Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) has sold 1.6 million tonnes of cocoa export contracts by July 12 for the 2019/20 season, which begins in October, two sources at the industry regulator said on Thursday. POLITICS A potentially bloody confrontation between Ethiopia's federal government and a minority community was averted on Thursday when a political party postponed plans to set up a new region for the Sidama people in defiance of central authorities in Addis Ababa. STRIKES Zimbabwe's public sector workers said on Thursday they had accepted a government pay offer, averting a potentially damaging strike in a country facing its worst economic crisis in a decade. COPPER
Zambia's copper production dropped 4% to 393,419 tonnes in the first six months of the year, ministry of mines data showed on Thursday. EBOLA The World Health Organization on Thursday withdrew a report that said an Ebola patient may have entered Rwanda, suggesting the deadly virus could spread to that country for the first time. MARKETS The Ugandan shilling UGX= was little-changed on Thursday but was seen inclined on the weaker side on a possible pick up in demand for dollars from fuel importers, traders said. VANILLA Rocketing vanilla prices bought Madagascan farmer Berlin Ranary a hot pink sofa, a motorbike - and a double-barrelled shotgun to protect his crop. the latest precious metals report click on GOL/
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