The Markets

LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) –  With about 200 people counting down to Banco BAI’s share debut, Angola’s stock exchange finally got off the ground.  BAI, the southwest African nation’s biggest lender, had 20 buy orders at 21,650 kwanzas ($50) on the bourse known as Bolsa de Divida e Valores de Angola, or Bodiva, 5% more than the the initial public offering price. But there were no sellers.  “Today we have reached a new historic…

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…