Italy Denies Reaching Out to ECB for Help on Bond Purchases

Italy Denies Reaching Out to ECB for Help on Bond Purchases

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio denied Italy is looking for help from the European Central Bank after a media report suggested that the cabinet in Rome is reaching out to the Frankfurt-based institute for a new round of government-bond purchases. “We are not asking for any help from anyone, as there is no speculative attack” at present against Italy, he told reporters in Cairo on Wednesday during an official visit to…

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Emerging-Market Gain Wanes on Trade as Moody’s Cuts Turkey Banks

Emerging-Market Gain Wanes on Trade as Moody’s Cuts Turkey Banks

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The rally in emerging markets lost momentum Tuesday as hopes for a U.S.-China trade breakthrough faded. The lira tumbled as Moody’s Investors Service downgraded several Turkish banks. Stocks pared gains, and the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets exchange-traded fund halted a back-to-back surge on speculation that the Trump administration is putting trade negotiations with China on the back burner while focusing first on resolving issues in North America. Every major Latin American currency…

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SBM Mauritius Reviews Foreign Loans After $27 Million Impairment

SBM Mauritius Reviews Foreign Loans After $27 Million Impairment

PORT LIOUS (Capital Markets in Africa) – SBM Holdings Ltd., Mauritius’s second-biggest financial group, began an audit of loans to foreign clients by its banking unit after uncovering a suspected fraud. The Port Louis-based company on Aug. 13 reported a 591 million-rupee ($17 million) loss in the three months through June, compared with a 728.5 million-rupee profit a year ago, after booking a once-off credit loss of 932 million rupees. Its shares have dropped 4.6 percent since….

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Kenyan Prosecutors Arrest Top Judge for Alleged Corruption

Kenyan Prosecutors Arrest Top Judge for Alleged Corruption

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan authorities arrested Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu Tuesday for alleged abuse of office and for accepting money “in circumstances which undermined public confidence in the integrity of her office.” The top judge got a loan from Imperial Bank Ltd., which is in receivership, under false pretences, Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji told reporters in the capital, Nairobi. Mwilu, who was appointed to her post in October 2016,…

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Nigerian President Declines to Sign Oil-Reform Bill, Aide Says

Nigerian President Declines to Sign Oil-Reform Bill, Aide Says

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari declined to sign an oil-industry reform bill passed by lawmakers and indicated his concerns in a letter to the legislature, a senior aide said. “The president has declined assent in a letter he sent to the National Assembly about a month ago,” Eta Enang, the presidential adviser on legislative affairs, told reporters Wednesday in Abuja, the capital. “It doesn’t mean that the bill is completely dead,” he…

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Bitcoin Posts Longest Rally in a Month as Charts Turn Bullish

Bitcoin Posts Longest Rally in a Month as Charts Turn Bullish

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bitcoin advanced for a fourth day, exceeding $7,000 in its longest winning streak in more than a month, and with momentum indicators suggesting the rally has further to run. The biggest cryptocurrency climbed as much as 4.7 percent on Tuesday to $7,035, the highest since Aug. 3, on course for the first close above its 50-day average since July, according to composite weekday prices on Bloomberg. Other cryptocurrencies were swept up…

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Gasoline Pushes South Africa’s Inflation to 10-Month High

Gasoline Pushes South Africa’s Inflation to 10-Month High

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African inflation accelerated to the highest level in 10 months in July, driven by increased fuel prices. Consumer prices rose 5.1 percent from a year earlier compared with 4.6 percent in June, Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said Wednesday in a statement on its website. That matched the median estimate of 16 economists in a Bloomberg survey. While inflation has now been inside the central bank’s target band of 3 percent…

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