The biggest market signal this week did not come from a single barrel or a single ounce, but from foreign exchange. As of Thursday, August 6, 2026, EUR/MAD jumped 3.36% to 10.737, while USD/KES rose 0.70% to 129.3. At the same time, USD/EGP fell 0.85% to 49.72, USD/ZAR slipped 0.27% to 16.3389, and USD/NGN edged down 0.13% to 1,361.08. For African equity investors exposed to commodities, that divergence reshaped how oil, gold and soft-commodity moves translated into stock returns.
Key figures
- EUR/MAD: 10.737 (+3.36%)
- Brent: $82.29/bbl (+3.6% day, -1.8% week)
- Gold: $4,304.8/oz (+1.4%)
- USD/KES: 129.3 (+0.70%)
- USD/EGP: 49.72 (-0.85%)
FX, not just spot prices, drove African stock markets today
On the surface, the commodity tape looked straightforward. Brent crude rose 3.6% on the day to $82.29 a barrel, gold added 1.4% to $4,304.8 an ounce, platinum gained 0.1% to $1,739.2, while cocoa fell 2.7% to $5,723 and coffee lost 0.8% to $324.25. But across African exchanges, dollar prices were only half the story. The other half was the local currency, which determines how export revenues are translated and how imported costs hit margins.