African Markets - Factors to watch on Jan 3

    NAIROBI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - The following company announcements, scheduled economic 
indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on 
Friday. 
    - - - - - 
 EVENTS: 
 *UGANDA - Bank of Uganda announces its central bank rate for 
 January. In December, the bank cut its benchmark lending 
 rate by 50 basis points to 11.5 percent. 
 *MAURITIUS - Bank of Mauritius auctions 182-day Treasury 
 bills worth a total 600 million rupees. 
  
 GLOBAL MARKETS 
 Asian share markets were under water on Friday after a 
 sudden reversal in some very popular, and thus crowded, 
 trades sparked a bout of global risk aversion. 
    MKTS/GLOB  
  
 WORLD OIL PRICES 
 Brent crude rose towards $108 a barrel on Friday after 
 posting its biggest daily percentage drop in six months in 
 the previous session, although expectations for a rise in 
 Libyan supply and speculation of a build up in U.S. 
 stockpiles capped gains.    O/R  
  
 EMERGING MARKETS 
 For the top emerging markets news, double click on 
  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nTOPEMRG   
  
 AFRICA STOCKS 
 For the latest news on African stocks, click on  .J  
  
 SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS 
 South African stocks kicked off 2014 with another record 
 close on Thursday, as investors snapped up precious metal 
 producers such as AngloGold Ashanti    and Impala 
 Platinum   , betting they had fallen too far last 
 year.   
     South Africa's rand shed nearly 2 percent against a 
 globally strong dollar to a near five-year low on the first 
 trading day of the year as investors turned against emerging 
 market assets seen as carrying more risk.   
  
 NIGERIA BANK PROFIT 
 Nigeria's FBN Holdings   , owner of First Bank of 
 Nigeria, on Thursday reported pre-tax profit of 59 billion 
 naira ($368.9 million) for the nine months to Sept. 30, down 
 about 10 percent on the same period in 2012.   
  
 SOUTH SUDAN UNREST 
 South Sudan's army (SPLA) said it was advancing on two 
 rebel-controlled towns on Thursday as both sides gathered in 
 Ethiopia for peace talks to end three weeks of violence that 
 has pushed the world's youngest nation towards civil 
 war.   
  
 KENYA MARKETS 
 The Kenyan shilling    fell 0.7 percent on Thursday, the 
 first trading day of 2014, as energy companies and other 
 corporates bought dollars, while Nairobi's main share index 
 closed lower.   
  
 UGANDA MARKETS 
 The Ugandan shilling    was stable on Thursday but was 
 vulnerable to selling pressure on jitters about the impact 
 of continued fighting in South Sudan and a pick-up in 
 corporate dollar demand after the holidays.    
  
 DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO SECURITY 
 Heavy gunfire rang out from an airport in the capital of the 
 Democratic Republic of Congo, a Reuters witness in Kinshasa 
 said on Thursday, days after an attack on the main 
 airport.   
     Separately, the colonel in charge of military operations 
 against insurgents in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo 
 was killed on Thursday in an ambush by the ADF-NALU, a 
 Ugandan rebel group, the government said.    
  
     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   
  ((Compiled by Nairobi Newsroom)) 
  ((Email: nairobi.newsroom@reuters.com; tel: +254 20 221 4608) 
 
 
Keywords: AFRICA FACTORS/