GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian shares are set to end the week on a sour note, as uncertainty across the geopolitical landscape and in major economies added to headwinds for investors even as the global rate easing cycle gets under way.

MKTS/GLOB

WORLD OIL PRICES

Oil prices fell on Friday, setting up for a second weekly decline, as mixed economic signals weighed on investor sentiment and boosted the dollar.

O/R

EMERGING MARKETS

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AFRICA STOCKS

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SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS

South Africa's rand was stable on Thursday after the South African Reserve Bank kept its main interest rate unchanged for the seventh meeting in a row.

KENYA POLITICS

Kenya's government on Thursday ratcheted up its appeal for weeks of protests to stop and police tried to ban demonstrations in the heart of the capital Nairobi only to be overruled in court.

SUDAN POLITICS

The United States will give an extra $203 million to help millions of civilians affected by the war in Sudan, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Thursday, calling on other nations to step up their aid.

RWANDA ELECTION

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame has been re-elected with 99.18% of the vote, the National Electoral Commission said on Thursday, extending his near quarter-century in office.

COCOA GHANA

A major cocoa producing region in Ghana, the world's second largest cocoa grower, is 81% infected with swollen shoot disease, according to the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO).

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