Nigeria Protests Continue – Protesters arrested: Reports from Amnesty International (AI), over the weekend, indicated that nine people had been killed and around 50 protesters were arrested on Saturday during the protests in Abuja in Nigeria. In total AI reports that almost 700 protesters have been arrested across the country so far, while nine police officers have been injured according to Nigerian police reports.
New Kenyan Bill Signed into Law: Kenya 5thAugust 2024 President William Ruto, has this morning, signed the Supplementary Appropriation Bill of 2024 into legislation. The Bill, seeks to reduce government expenditure by 145,7 Billion Shillings in total. This is broken down into reductions in Executive cuts of Sh139,8 Billion, SH3,7 Billion in parliamentary spend and SH2,1 Billion in spend on the judiciary.
Kenyan Economic Activity Contracted in July: The Stanbic Bank Kenya Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) dropped over 4 points to 43.1 from 47.2 in June indicating a contraction in economic activity. This has been mainly attributed to the widespread protests that occurred in July regarding the new tax bill and general corruption in the Kenyan government.
TELKOM Earnings Growth: Telkom (SA) reported 24.1% growth in profit for its first quarter – ending 30 June 2024. Turnover and profit were impacted by subscriber growth and increased use of its “next-generation network” offering (7% growth) after it had dropped its legacy network services. EBITDA at South Africa’s state-owned t telecom company grew to $151 million for the first quarter.
Olympic Highlights:
- Women’s Basketball: The Nigerian Women’s basketball squad have become the first African team to qualify for an Olympic quarter final, after a hard-fought win over Canada with a final score of 79-70. They will now face the USA in the quarter finals on the 7th August.
- Women’s Gymnastics: 17-year old Kaylia Nemour of Algeria, won gold in the women’s uneven bars final and became the first ever African Gymnast to win an Olympic medal in artistic gymnastics. Nemour, who had the highest qualifying score, scored an exceptional 15.700 in the final.
Market News: Weak numbers on US non-farm payrolls combined with growth in the unemployment rate have sparked concerns of potential recession in the US, pushing US bond yields and equity markets sharply lower and the Dollar weaker. US Non-farm payrolls rose by only 114k versus market expectation of 175k, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.3% from 4.1%. The 10-year US bond yield has fallen to 3.75% from Friday’s 3.97% opening, with markets pricing in a 100bp rate cut this year by the Fed. The Dollar lost 1.1% against the Euro and 0.4% against the Pound on Friday but the most significant move has come against the Yen which is trading at a 7-month high of 142.52. The Yen has gained over 4.6% against the Dollar since Friday morning. Risk sentiment has fallen sharply, and we have Emerging Market currencies starting the new week on the back foot. The Rand is trading weaker at 18.41 this morning.
Commodities: Gold is trading unchanged from Friday’s closing level of $2,443 while short-term outlook remains bullish. Platinum and Palladium have opened the new week trading sharply lower at $938 and $871 respectively. Brent crude has fallen to $76.40 this morning on the back of the US recession and global growth fears.
