The Markets

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Just as investors were beginning to suspect the emerging-market trade is getting crowded, the U.S. and China gave them another reason to throw caution to the wind. Stocks are headed for their biggest advance this month and currencies rebounded from a two-week slump on hopes the two nations will soon end a trade war that’s plagued emerging markets for about a year. The assets were also buoyed by China’s credit growth,…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mozambique’s government is scrambling to contain the fallout from a U.S. investigation into the country’s $2 billion hidden-debt scandal, ordering a series of high-profile arrests in the past week. The detentions signal concern among Mozambican authorities that the U.S. probe may reveal more corruption by ruling Frelimo party officials as they prepare to compete in general elections in October. Those arraigned so far include the ex-head of intelligence and…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African police arrested a former ambassador to Iran on corruption charges related to the award of a mobile-phone license to MTN Group Ltd. after it was initially given to Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS. The case has been the subject of legal claims for several years by the Turkish company, which accuses Johannesburg-based MTN of paying bribes to South African and Iranian officials. MTN secured 49 percent of Irancell Telecommunication Co….

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Telkom SA SOC Ltd. sees an acquisition as one way to grow its mobile-phone business as the South African former landline monopoly looks to boost profit and attract higher-paying customers. Telkom has the balance sheet to pursue a deal, Chief Executive Officer Sipho Maseko said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Johannesburg office on Wednesday. While he didn’t name a specific target, local rival Cell C Pty Ltd. is on the group’s radar, people…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Shares of Discovery Ltd. dropped to their lowest level since October 2017 after the South African financial-services company said first-half earnings will decline after investments into new initiatives soared. The owner of a wellness loyalty program that stretches from China to the U.S. is expanding into banking and commercial insurance to tap deeper into its existing customer base to boost income. Spending on new projects in the six months through December…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – There’s been a momentum shift in Kenya’s share market and it’s propelled Nairobi stocks to their best start to the year since 2013. After largely avoiding equities for the past two years in favor of the fixed-income market, local money managers are back buying stocks and in large-enough volumes to outweigh persistent foreign outflows. The benchmark stock index has jumped 16 percent in response, the best in the world in 2019 after Argentina…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African stocks are heading for the best weekly rally since Jan. 11, but don’t be fooled by the apparent momentum. The path of least resistance leads down. The benchmark FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index has added 2.1 percent in the past five days, with its 50-day moving average looking to cross above the 100-day mean. That’s made equities look resilient even as a crisis at the state-owned power utility Eskom fuels…