(Corrects to say Namibia, not Nigeria, in last paragraph) * Bank Windhoek to list after deal * Namibia in drive to cut foreign holding banks By Servaas van den Bosch WINDHOEK, June 7 (Reuters) – Barclays Plc plans to buy a 49.9 percent stake in Namibia’s second-largest lender by assets, Bank Windhoek, the country’s central [...]

June 7 (Reuters) – World Cup African zone soccer qualifying group fixtures this weekend (kick-off times GMT): GROUP A Saturday In Gaborone: Botswana v South Africa (1300) Sunday In Addis Ababa: Ethiopia v Central African Republic (1300) GROUP B Saturday In Malabo: Equatorial Guinea v Sierra Leone (1700) In Praia: Cape Verde Islands v Tunisia [...]

JOHANNESBURG, June 7 (Reuters) – South African stocks ended firmer on Thursday as investors took solace in improved global sentiment but gold shares refused to be consoled, choosing instead to follow spot prices lower. The JSE Top-40 blue-chip index closed up 0.91 percent at 29,947.48 and the broader All-share index gained 0.90 percent to 33,904.86. [...]

* Rand rally loses steam, resistance at 8.30 * Bonds gain as data supports domestic rate cut JOHANNESBURG, June 7 (Reuters) – Africa’s rand climbed as much as 1.2 percent against the dollar on Thursday before giving up all the gains in see-saw trading as dented prospects of policy easing in the U.S. negated the [...]

* Jly ARA bid at $83/T, down $3 but no trades reported * High China inventories, delayed discharging seen LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) – European prompt physical coal prices dropped by around $1 a tonne for a second day running, touching the two-year low of $85.00 reached in May, on expectations for more delays and [...]

By Greg Stutchbury AUCKLAND, June 8 (Reuters) – Brian O’Driscoll’s enforced layoff after the rugby World Cup has reinvigorated the Ireland captain and he is not ready to call time on his career just yet. The 33-year-old missed the entire Six Nations after a pinched nerve in his neck was giving him what a team [...]

By Greg Stutchbury AUCKLAND, June 8 (Reuters) – Had Daniel Carter’s World Cup script gone to plan, the flyhalf would still be basking in the glory of making a big impact in rugby’s most prestigious final on home soil. Maybe ghosting to the defensive line, fending off a loose forward who underestimated the upper body [...]

DURBAN, June 7 (Reuters) – The risks to the South African Reserve Bank’s economic growth forecasts are to the downside because of global developments, Governor Gill Marcus said on Thursday. Marcus said in a speech at a National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa congress the central bank was concerned about weak output in the [...]

(Repeats to chain to snaps) DURBAN, June 7 (Reuters) – The risks to the South African Reserve Bank’s economic growth forecasts are to the downside because of global developments, Governor Gill Marcus said on Thursday. Marcus said in a speech at a National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa congress the central bank was concerned [...]

(Adds quotes, background) DURBAN, June 7 (Reuters) – Global economic developments could hurt South Africa’s economic growth while the depreciation of the rand poses an inflation risk, Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus said on Thursday. Marcus said in a speech at a National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa congress the central bank was concerned [...]