African Markets - Factors to watch on May 21 - Reuters

Details: Written/Submitted by External Source; Category: South Sudan & African News From Various Sources; Published: 21 May 2012; Hits: 2832

Mon May 21, 2012 12:52am EDT

The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Monday. - - - - - EVENTS: SOUTH AFRICA - Representatives from African utilities meet in Johannesburg to discuss best practices and ways for cooperation. SOUTH AFRICA - Exchange operator JSE Ltd . releases data on foreigners' buying and selling of South African bonds and stocks during the previous week. ZIMBABWE - UN Human Rights Commission chief Navi Pilay will visit Zimbabwe where she will meet government officials, civil society and rights groups. GLOBAL MARKETS * Markets recovered some ground on Monday after last week's heavy losss, but investors remained wary about the euro zone despite world leaders calling for Greece to stay in the monetary union and for Europe to balance austerity with growth. * World leaders backed keeping Greece in the euro zone on Saturday and vowed to take all steps necessary to combat financial turmoil while revitalising a global economy increasingly threatened by Europe's debt crisis. WORLD OIL PRICES Brent crude recovered towards $108 on Monday on hopes that China could take new steps to stimulate growth and lift fuel demand as the world's second largest oil user, although concerns about the euro zone capped gains. EMERGING MARKETS For the top emerging markets news, double click on AFRICA STOCKS For the latest news on African stocks, click on AFRICA FIXED INCOME For news on African fixed income, click on SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS South Africa's rand hit a five-month low against the dollar on Friday before recovering in late trade, but could be back under pressure next week as investors remain hestitant to take up riskier emerging market assets on worries about global growth. KENYA MARKETS The Kenyan shilling extended its losses against the dollar on Friday on importer orderes for the latter, but traders said they expected the central bank to keep supporting the currency, while stocks rose for the seventh straight session. AFRICA TRADE BLOC Plans to create a 26-nation free trade area by integrating three existing African trade blocs by July 2014 are on track and the only maojr sticking point is likely to be harmonising rules of origin, the three blocs said on Friday. EAST AFRICA GAS To East Africa's assets of spectacular wildlife, abundant land and shimmering beaches you can now add gas - so much gas it could transform global energy flows along with some of the world's poorest countries. NIGERIA MTN Nigeria's telecoms regulator fined the country's four main mobile operators, including MTN and Bharti Airtel, a total of 1.17 billion naira on Sunday for poor-quality service. SUDAN * Sudan will allow foreign exchange bureaux and banks to trade dollars at a level close to the black market rate, effectively devaluing the pound, a senior banking official said * Sudan has released four foreigners who were detained three weeks ago near the border with South Sudan following weeks of heavy clashes between the two African neighbours LIBYA MEGRAHI Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of the 1988 bombing of a PanAM flight over Lockerbie, died of cancer on Sunday aged 60, leaving many questions on the attack and its aftermath unanswered. For the latest precious metals report click on For the latest base metals report click on For the latest crude oil report click on

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