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…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Central African Republic declared Bitcoin an official currency, becoming the second nation after El Salvador to accept the cryptocurrency as legal tender. “Cryptomoney including Bitcoin is now considered an official currency in CAR,” Albert Mokpeme, spokesman for President Faustin-Archange Touadera, said Thursday by phone from the capital, Bangui. “By legalizing the use of Bitcoin, CAR hopes to attract investors,” he said, adding that its use will ease money…