Market News

NAIROBI, April 1 (Reuters) – The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Tuesday.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian equities rose on Tuesday following Wall Street’s overnight gains, while gold hit an all-time peak and Treasury yields fell as markets awaited details of U.S. President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.

WORLD OIL PRICES

Oil prices inched higher on Tuesday after threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose secondary tariffs on Russian crude and attack Iran, though worries about the impact of a trade war on global growth capped gains.

SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS

The South African rand strengthened on Monday as local news reports said the two biggest political parties in the ruling coalition government were close to an agreement that could end an impasse over the country’s national budget.

KENYA INFLATION

Kenya’s inflation rose to 3.6% year-on-year in March from 3.5% a month before, the statistics office said on Monday.

ETHIOPIA CENTRAL BANK

Ethiopia’s central bank said on Monday that it would begin conducting foreign exchange auctions every two weeks to ensure stability on the country’s forex market.

UGANDA ELECTRICITY

Ugandan private power utility Umeme Limited said on Monday it had received $118 million in compensation from the government for unrecovered investments, following the expiration of its monopoly rights to distribute electricity in the country.

IVORY COAST COCOA

Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast had reached 1.441 million metric tons by March 30 since the start of the season on October 1, up 11.1% from the same period last season, exporters estimated on Monday.

ZIMBABWE POLITICS

Police deployed heavily in Zimbabwe’s capital and other cities on Monday, largely neutralising a call by veterans for massive protests against plans to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s rule.

((Compiled by Nairobi Newsroom))