African Markets - Factors to watch on Sept 30

Sept 30 (Reuters) - The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Wednesday.

- - - -

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian shares edged higher on Wednesday looking past a surprise fall in U.S. consumer confidence, and the Australian dollar jumped to a 13-month high after August retail sales data beat forecasts. [ID:nSP116906]

China's main stock market opened higher boosted by the acquisition plans of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world's biggest bank by market value, while the Korean won rose to a near one-year high.

SOUTH AFRICAN MARKETS

Stocks closed down on Tuesday, tracking global markets, but the rand edged firmer, with investors anxious for news on the proposed tie-up between MTN and India's Bharti Airtel. [ID:nLT333003]

The Johannesburg Top-40 index .JTOPI lost 0.64 percent to 22,235.98 points while the broader All Share index shed 0.56 percent to 24,855.11 points.

NIGERIA OIL

Nigeria said on Tuesday it was in talks with several state-run Chinese oil firms wanting to buy proven reserves, but that it had not offered them stakes in licences already being exploited by Western companies. [ID:nLT576633]

Minister of State for Petroleum Odein Ajumogobia told Reuters that CNOOC, China's no. 3 oil and gas producer, was one of several Chinese companies engaged in "general discussions" with the government about Beijing's search for proven reserves.

NIGERIAN MARKETS

The all-share index .LAGLG fell for the third straight day on Tuesday, down 0.99 percent to 21,969 points, driven by a sell-off in bank stocks. [ID:nLT653236]

Dealers said the stocks of five banks -- Zenith ZETH.LG, Access Bank ACEE.LG, Guaranty Trust GTB.LG, First Bank FBNP.LG and Diamond Bank DIAM.LG -- were among the day's most traded shares, accounting for 36.66 percent of the volume.

The naira NGN= firmed versus the dollar on Tuesday at both the central bank forex auction and interbank market as tight credit weakened dollar demand, traders said. [ID:nLT543736]

GUINEA PROTESTS

France led international pressure on Guinea's military rulers by cutting military cooperation on Tuesday after a crackdown by the security forces on its opponents killed 157, according to a local rights group. [ID:nLT570267]

ANGOLA IMF

The International Monetary Fund has reached a preliminary deal with Angola that could lead to significant loans to help the African nation cope with a global economic downturn and lower oil prices, the IMF said on Tuesday. [ID:nLT552245]

KENYA SHILLING

Kenya's shilling KES= rode profit-taking by banks on Tuesday to pare some of the heavy losses it incurred against the dollar in the previous session. [ID:nLT174820]

KENYA TEA

Kenyan tea prices maintained their upward trend with best Broken Pekoe Ones (BP1s) hitting a record at Tuesday's auction for the third week running, brokers said. [ID:nLT625022]

KENYAN MARKETS

Kenya's Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) 20-share index .NSE20 dropped 7.31 points on Tuesday to stand at 3,015.72. The broader NSE All share index dipped 0.18 points to close at 67.21.

The government is due to Q2 GDP figures imminently.

KENYA AIRWAYS

Kenya Airways (KQNA.NR) is in talks with Airbus (EAD.PA) about buying several A330-200 planes after delays to Boeing's (BA.N) much-anticipated B787 Dreamliner jet, senior officials at the airline said on Tuesday. [ID:nLT146987]

EAST AFRICA DROUGHT

Drought for a fifth year running is driving more than 23 million east Africans in seven countries towards hunger and destitution, aid agency Oxfam said on Tuesday. [ID:LT082635]

MAURITIUS STOCKS

The benchmark SEMDEX index .MDEX gained 0.63 percent on Tuesday to settle at 1634.83 points, led by a rebound in the share price of New Mauritius Hotels (NMH) NMH.MZ. NMH's stock closed trading up 2.96 percent at 139 rupees per share.

Mauritius Commercial Bank MCBL.MZ, the Indian Ocean island's largest banking group by assets and its most-traded equity, saw its share price slip 0.71 percent as it announced full-year net profits of 4.05 billion rupees ($128.8 million), an increase of 4.11 percent on the year previous.

MCB forecast slower growth this financial year because of fallout from the global economic downturn. [ID:nLT609544]

SEYCHELLES OIL

Dubai-based East Africa Exploration (EAX) and partner Britain's Avana Petroleum have started a second seismic survey of part of the Seychelles' seabed estimated to hold more than one billion barrels of oil. [ID:nLT484051]

EMERGING MARKETS

For the top emerging markets news, double click on [nTOPEMRG]

COMMODITIES

For the latest precious metals report click on [GOL/]

For the latest base metals report click on [MET/L]

For the latest crude oil report click on [O/L]