African markets – Factors to watch on May 25

May 25 - The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and
currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Thursday.
    - - - - -
 GLOBAL MARKETS
 Asian shares scaled two-year highs on Thursday while the
 dollar and U.S. bond yields slipped after the U.S. Federal
 Reserve signaled a cautious approach to future rate hikes
 and the reduction of its $4.5 trillion of bond holdings.
                         
 WORLD OIL PRICES
 Oil prices rose on Thursday ahead of an OPEC meeting
 expected to extend production cuts into 2018 in an attempt
 to drain a global glut that has depressed markets for almost
 three years.                  
 
 EMERGING MARKETS
 For the top emerging markets news, double click on
            
 AFRICA STOCKS
 For the latest news on African stocks, click on     
 
 SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS
 South Africa's rand rallied to a 4-week high against the

 dollar on Wednesday and government bonds gained after annual
 consumer inflation fell more than expected as food price
 rises eased.             
 
 NIGERIA MARKETS
 Nigeria's central bank plans to sell an undisclosed amount
 of dollars on Tuesday to settle a backlog of foreign
 exchange demand for airlines, fuel and raw material imports,
 traders said.            
 
 NIGERIA OIL
 Nigeria's government wants to resolve a labour dispute
 between Exxon Mobil Corp         and unions in the oil-rich
 Niger Delta region, a minister said on Wednesday.
                        
 KENYA MARKETS
 The Kenya shilling        remained unchanged against the
 dollar on Wednesday helped by low dollar demand offset by
 supply from local producers.             
 
 KENYA BLASTS
 Eight Kenyan security officers were killed in two separate
 roadside bombings in eastern Kenya on Wednesday, senior
 officials said, and Somali Islamist militants claimed both
 attacks.             
 
 KENYA GRAIN       
 A Kenyan government scheme to subsidise staple maize flour
 has hit problems over shortages, stoking anger over high
 food prices ahead of a national election in August.
              
 SOUTH SUDAN BANKING
 Kenya's Equity Bank Group           has closed more than
 half of its branches in war-ravaged South Sudan because of a
 mix of hyperinflation, a battered local currency and an
 economic slowdown, its chief executive officer said.
             
 SOUTH AFRICA INFLATION    
 South Africa's headline consumer inflation fell to within
 the central bank's target range in April as food price rises
 slowed, data showed on Wednesday, sending the rand currency
 to a new 4-week high and boosting hopes for a rate cut later
 this year.                  

Courtesy Reuters