The Markets

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya faces the risk of a fully-established parallel foreign-currency market as importers purchase dollars at a rate about 3% higher than the official quotes, according to a manufacturers’ lobby. Members of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers are buying the greenback at 120 shillings and above, compared with prices the banks publish of around 116 shillings, the group said in a statement on Monday. The business group spoke out about…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bitcoin fell below $30,000 and touched its lowest level since June, while the TerraUSD stablecoin continued its downward spiral.  The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value fell more than 6% at one point Wednesday to trade at $29,085, nearly an 11-month low. Analysts had been watching the $30,000 as a key threshold, with many projecting that losses could accelerate once the coin falls below it.  Meanwhile, the TerraUSD algorithmic…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – Apple Inc. predicted that supply constraints would cost $4 billion to $8 billion in revenue during the current quarter, a warning that sent the shares tumbling and cast a pall on record-setting results that the company just reported.  Covid restrictions, which have swept China in recent weeks, will take a toll on the June quarter, Apple said during a conference call Thursday. The fiscal second quarter’s sales and…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa)- The ascendant U.S. dollar headed for its best month in a decade, as renewed yen selling cemented the greenback’s strength against major peers.  A Bloomberg gauge of the greenback climbed to its highest level in nearly two years and has risen 4.5% this month, set for its best performance since May 2012. The dollar extended gains versus yen, hitting a two-decade high, after the Bank of Japan kept interest rates at…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Twitter Inc., in one of its last earnings reports before Elon Musk takes the company private, reported revenue that missed analysts’ estimates, reflecting a slowdown in advertising. Revenue rose to $1.2 billion in the first quarter, the social media company saidon Thursday. That compared with the average forecast for $1.23 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The 16% gain in sales was the worst pace of growth in six…