By Rafiq Raji, PhD
Twitter: @DrRafiqRaji, @macroafrica

Global Markets

• Asia shares off to cautious start, US crude slides
• Nikkei down early, S&P 500 futures ease back
• Corporate earnings, factory surveys loom for the week
• US May crude futures slide on supply glut

Oil Markets

• US oil falls more than 10% to lows not seen since 1999
• Brent down 0.8% at $27.87 a barrel (0142GMT)
• WTI down 14% at $15.65

Precious metals

• Gold slips as dollar firms amid doubts over US restart plan
• Spot gold down 0.3% at $1,679.95/oz. (0316GMT)
• US gold futures down 0.2% at $1,695.20/oz.

Grains

• Wheat rallies as doubts about Russia shipments stoke supply fears
• Wheat up nearly 1% on Russia exports suspension plans
• Soybeans flat, corn down 0.5% on weak oil prices

Key African events or data releases today
[Posts & comments at my Twitter handles @DrRafiqRaji, @macroafrica]

• Ghana lifts lockdown, maintains restrictions
• Mali 2^nd round parliamentary elections on Sunday; results processing
• Key African countries on lockdown; subdued economic activity
• Covid-19 updates by authorities across the continent

Key African events or data releases over the weekend & early a.m today

• MSF says aid worker dies in Nigeria after contracting coronavirus
• Rwanda’s Kagame says Africa could take ‘a generation’ to recover from coronavirus – FT
• Kenya’s Safaricom forecasts 7% coronavirus hit to M-Pesa revenue
• South32 Q3 metallurgical coal output rises, South Africa coal ops to restart
• ‘Armed bandits’ kill 47 in northwest Nigeria’s Katsina state – police
• Algeria’s GDP growth falls to 0.8% in 2019
• Tunisia extends coronavirus lockdown to May 4, expects gradual easing
• South Africa tries to ease internal Lesotho tension after PM deploys army
• Zambia official says Glencore reverses plan to shutter copper mines
• Expelled from Mozambique, fugitive cocaine boss heads to Brazil jail
• Escape of ebola patient in Congo sparks fear of further infection
• Nigeria oil union suspends industrial action after Exxon Mobil workers freed
• Zimbabwe extends coronavirus lockdown by two more weeks but mines can get back to work
• Libya forces loyal to Tripoli govt try to build on military momentum
• Number of coronavirus cases in Egypt passes 3,000
• Nigeria president chief of staff dies from coronavirus
• South Africa SAA offers severance packages to all staff after state pulls plug
• Lesotho embattled PM Thabane deploys army to streets
• Morocco govt extends coronavirus lockdown to May 20
• SEC says Italy’s Eni agrees to settle charges in Algeria graft case
• IMF, World Bank urge action to cover $44 bln gap in Africa pandemic needs
• Rwanda uses drones to help catch lockdown transgressors
• IMF, World Bank say Africa to get $57 bln from official creditors in 2020
• South Africa mobile operators may need weeks to speed up data
• IMF says Africa faces fiscal gap of $44 bln to deal with pandemic
• Africa can still contain COVID-19 outbreak – WHO
• Congo mine closures would cause economic & social crisis, minister says
• Malawi high court sets aside coronavirus lockdown pending review
• South Africa Ramaphosa dismisses call to lift ban on alcohol during lockdown
• Nigeria oil hub quarantines 22 Exxon Mobil workers – governor
• Namibia suspends poultry imports from South Caroline, Ukraine due to bird flu
• South Africa rand slips, stocks higher on coronvirus vaccine hopes
• Total working with Mozambique to mange Covid-19 cases at LNG site
• Africa Oil – Offers head even lower as glut swells
• World Bank chief says more trade will ease pandemic’s economic impact
• Africa needs more than $200 bln to respond to pandemic, UN chief says
• Namibia to close national parks until May 5, anti-poaching operations continue
• World Bank Development Committee urges debt help for middle-income countries [Nigeria, etc]
• Mixed blessing for some, as South Africa shelters homeless in schools, stadiums
• South Africa Implats plans gradual return to operation after regulations eased
• World Bank says no ‘free ride’ for commercial creditors on debt relief
• Saudi grand mufti: Ramadan, evening, Eid prayers to be done at home amid coronavirus
• At least 300,000 Africans expected to die in pandemic: UN agency
• South Africa competition watchdog recommends approval of AngloGold-Harmony deal
• Uganda shilling trades flat on depressed appetite from importers, banks
• South Africa Implats plans gradual return to operation after regulations eased
• South Africa mobile operators granted emergency lockdown spectrum to meet data demand
• IMF’s Georgieva underscores need to help Africa, other emerging markets
• Nigeria urges ‘appropriate’ debt solutions for middle-income countries

N.B. Full stories of above headlines are available on Reuters