The Markets

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — In financial markets filled to the brim with froth, one of the more speculative corners is showing signs of bubbling yet again. Bitcoin rebounded from its sharp sell-off last week which saw prices plunge more than 12%, the steepest weekly drop since last March. The digital asset bounced back from below $30,000 Friday to trade around $34,400 as of 10:22 a.m. Monday in New York. “It’s a little bit…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South Africa’s main stocks index declined 1% by 9:53 a.m. in Johannesburg, the biggest intraday decline in 2021, after a slump in Tencent Holdings Ltd. in Hong Kong pulled benchmark giant Naspers Ltd. and its subsidiary, Prosus NV, lower. Tencent lost as much as 6.7% in Hong Kong on Tuesday, as traders took profit after Monday’s 11% surge, which was Tencent’s biggest in almost a decade. Investors were also…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigeria’s equity rally is yet to catch the attention of foreign investors wounded by failed attempts to repatriate gains made on earlier investments. The stock market rose 50% last year driven by pension funds avoiding negative real yields in fixed-income debts after they were locked out of buying high-yielding central bank papers. Offshore investors largely stayed out of the market after the central bank failed to supply enough dollars…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — U.S. approval of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund could weigh on the digital coin’s price in the short term, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. That’s because competition from such a vehicle could spark outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, the world’s largest traded cryptocurrency fund. The ETF would erode the Grayscale trust’s effective monopoly, sparking outflows and a slide in its premium to net asset value — which in turn…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South Africa’s main stocks index edged lower, retreating from Friday’s record close and set to fall for the first day in six. Mining stocks were among those dragging most on the market, giving up more of their recent rally. An index of mining stocks, up 12% already this year, retreated for a second session as diversified giant Anglo American Plc dropped 0.9% and BHP Group Plc fell 0.5%. A…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Negative real yields have sapped demand for naira bonds, and that’s unlikely to change over the coming months as the central bank keeps its policy rate low to boost economic growth. Returns on Nigerian local-currency bonds fell 14% in December after soaring 66% in the previous 11 months, according to a Bloomberg index tracking the debt, as investors snapped up yields that were in double digits for most of the year….

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Bitcoin fizzled in Monday trading as the famously volatile cryptocurrency pulled back after a spectacular new-year rally. Prices fell as much as 17% in the biggest drop since March before recovering. The losses are small in the context of Bitcoin’s broader rally, with a 50% jump in December alone. After a parabolic 2020, the digital currency had started the new year with a bang, surging as high as $34,000…