The Markets | - Part 254

Kenya shilling 5-10 pct overvalued, no policy shift needed: IMF

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s shilling is overvalued by about 5 to 10 percent to the dollar but demand for imports and other market pressures are likely to weaken it gradually so no policy change is required, the IMF said. The shilling has lost 1.7 percent since the start of 2015 against the dollar, after a 4.5 percent fall in 2014 that was largely blamed on a downturn in the vital tourism industry after a number…

Kenya’s Housing Finance raises 2.95 bln shilling in rights issue

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenyan mortgage firm Housing Finance said on Wednesday it raised 2.95 billion shillings ($32 million) in a rights issue to help the company increase its lending base. The lender initially planned to raise 3.5 billion shillings, but said in a statement that 84 percent of its shareholders had taken up their rights in an oversubscribed issue that received 9.01 billion shillings in bids. Housing Finance says it opted for a cash call…

Nigeria Stock Exchange, MSCI sign agreement on developing new market indices

Posted on by The Editorial Team

MSCI Incorporated, a leading provider of investment decision support tools worldwide, and the Nigerian Stock Exchange have signed a “strategic co-operation agreement to develop and market a co-branded “family of indexes” for the Nigerian equity market. Based on the agreement, existing and future indexes would be branded as the MSCI/NSE Indexes, including the flagship NSE 30 Index and NSE 50 Index, which will become the MSCI/NSE 30 Index and the MSCI/NSE 50 Index, respectively, a…

Kenya shilling firm, bond inflows match corporate dollar demand

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s shilling was steady in early business on Wednesday, with usual end-month demand for dollars matched by inflows of foreign exchange from investors attracted by a government bond auction. By 0733 GMT, the shilling was quoted at 91.75/95, little changed from Tuesday’s close of 91.70/80. “It looks like the flows that were expected for the upcoming infrastructure bond have been supporting the local currency,” said Duncan Kinuthia, head of trading at Commercial…

South Africa’s rand at three-week high against dollar on EM rally

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand rode the wave of an emerging market rally on Tuesday, extending gains to a new three-week high to a U.S. currency weighed down on expectations the Federal Reserve will delay an interest rate hike to September. By 1506 GMT the rand had firmed 0.5 percent to 11.8500 per dollar, having strengthened to as much as 11.8000 in the session before pulling back as weak Chinese manufacturing data restricted EM…

Mid-size firms shy away from Nairobi and Dar es Salaam bourses

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Policy makers in Kenya and Tanzania are looking for ways to attract small and medium sized enterprises to the capital markets to increase their access to cheaper capital according to the East African. 2 years after the launch of the GEMS, the Nairobi bourse has only attracted four companies to the platform whilst the Dar es Salaam stock market has only attracted two. This follows a lukewarm performance at the alternative trading platforms for SMEs on…

South Africa’s rand rides on euro gains versus dollar

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand steadied versus the dollar after pushing firmer than the 12.00 mark overnight, helped by a stronger euro after the Federal Reserve signalled last week that U.S. rates would rise very gradually. A less aggressive than expected policy tightening cycle by the Fed would boost high-yielding emerging currencies such as the rand, even as South Africa’s own central bank is expected to keep its key repo rate unchanged on Thursday….

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