Market News

June 4 (Reuters) – The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Wednesday.

EVENTS:

West Africa’s regional central bank, BCEAO’s monetary policy committee, is expected to announce its interest rate decision.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks inched higher on Wednesday and the dollar wobbled near six-week lows as traders braced for higher U.S. duties on steel and aluminium, the latest chapter in the trade war saga that has rattled the markets for much of the year.

WORLD OIL PRICES

Oil prices slipped in Asian trade on Wednesday, weighed down by concerns of increasing OPEC+ output and tariff tension that threatens the global economic outlook, though worries about Canadian supply provided a floor.

SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS

The South African rand weakened on Tuesday after first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data came in marginally better than expected but showed that the economy had stagnated.

KENYA MARKETS

Kenya’s shilling was unchanged against the dollar on Tuesday as manufacturers’ demand for foreign currency ebbed away, traders said.

MALI MINING

Mali has suspended artisanal gold mining activities during the June to September rainy season to protect workers from landslides, the West African country’s mines ministry said on Tuesday.

UGANDA BLAST

An explosion killed two suspected rebels including a female suicide bomber near a Roman Catholic shrine in Uganda’s capital Kampala on Tuesday morning, but no other people were reported hurt, authorities said.

((Compiled by Nairobi Newsroom))