The Markets

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Last month, the U.S. Treasury increased the number of economies it scrutinizes to 21 from 12 and expanded its watch list from four to nine, adding countries such as Ireland, Italy and Singapore under new tougher criteria. It again refrained from labeling China a manipulator. The Commerce Department on May 23 proposed allowing U.S. companies to seek trade sanctions against goods from countries with “undervalued’’ currencies, though it said it did not intend…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – President Donald Trump has already given the global economy trade wars. Now there are signs he may be gearing up for a currency war, too. With a series of tweets on Tuesday aimed at the European Central Bank and an announcement by Mario Draghi, its president, that he was prepared to cut interest rates further below zero in response to Europe’s slowing growth, Trump made a rare American presidential intervention into another…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Old Mutual Ltd. plans to fire Chief Executive Officer Peter Moyo after suspending him due to a conflict of interest. The board gave Moyo a “notice of termination of employment” and will “shortly” start the process to find his replacement, the Johannesburg-based insurer said in a statement. Chief Operations Officer Iain Williamsonwill continue as acting CEO. The 174-year-old insurer suspended Moyo last month to investigate a conflict involving his investment firm NMT Capital. It…

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa)  – Zimbabwe’s stock market has hit a record high, for all the wrong reasons. The southern African nation’s Industrial Index rose 5.6% on Monday to extend its gain this quarter to 80%, the most among any of the primary equity gauges tracked by Bloomberg globally. Stocks are rising because local investors are desperate to hedge against inflation, which accelerated to 98% in May, the statistics agency said on Monday. Prices are rocketing amid a scarcity of…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa)  – South African rand posted its best advance in more than two months Tuesday after a trifecta of good news: dovish statements from the European Central Bank, a positive turn in the trade saga, and a pledge further government support for the beleaguered power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. The rand strengthened as much as 1.9%, leading emerging-market currency gains against the dollar. It’s the biggest one-day move since April 1, and has…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The pound whipsawed as Brexiteer Boris Johnson took a commanding lead in the first round of voting to elect a new British prime minister. Sterling initially fell on the result before recovering some ground, with the market already anticipating a Johnson win and some of the other euroskeptic candidates being eliminated. A gauge of price swings over the next week has climbed the most since early May, as traders anticipate moves…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – It took only a small change in wording on the Nigerian central bank’s website this week to get some analysts speculating that the nation’s multiple exchange-rate system was on its last legs. The monetary authority subsequently denied anything had changed, but the flurry of excitement it caused was telling. Most foreign investors say the currency regime will break at some point, causing Nigeria to revert to a single exchange rate and perhaps even go for…