By Rafiq Raji, PhD
Twitter: @DrRafiqRaji, @macroafrica
Global Markets
- US markets closed for July 4 holiday
- Asia shares hit 4-mth high as US, China recoveries gather pace
- Shanghai shares hit 14-mth high on service sector recovery
- US payrolls jump 4.8 mln but hurdles lie ahead
- Rising US covid-19 cases threaten US recovery
Oil Markets
- Oil falls as growing coronavirus cases stoke fuel demand worries
- Brent down 0.9% at $42.77 a barrel (0042GMT)
- WTI down 0.8% at $40.31
Precious metals
- Gold steadies in tight range as virus fears offset solid US jobs data
- Spot gold unchanged at $1,775.12/oz. (0232GMT)
- US gold futures down 0.1% at $1,787.80/oz.
Key African events or data releases today
[Posts & comments at my Twitter handles @DrRafiqRaji, @macroafrica]
- South Africa’s Ramaphosa visits Mpumalanga to assess province’s covid-19 response
- Kenya roadmap on reopening worship centres expected; Kenyatta covid-19 measures speech expected on Monday [Or during weekend; cabinet reshuffle could be announced]
- Electoral Commission Ghana voter re-registration continues
- South Africa state capture inquiry continues
- Key African countries on lockdown or restricted; subdued economic activity
- Covid-19 updates by authorities across the continent
Key African events or data releases yesterday & early a.m today
- US welcomes independent probe of report that cleared African Development Bank chief
- Mining magnate Gertler denies skirting US sanctions in Congo
- Attackers on motorbikes kill 32 Mali villagers, local officials say
- Small homemade bomb explodes in Cameroon capital, official says
- South Africa to keep 20,000 soldiers on covid-19 duty until September
- Botswana investigating mystery deaths of at least 275 elephants
- Portugal to take then selll majority stake in Efacec firm of Angola’s dos Santos
- Lockdown ends in Nigeria’s Kano, where coronavirus killed hundreds
- Namibia considering options for struggling national flag carrier – finmin
- South Africa telecoms regulator moves to finalise spectrum licensing
- Slain Ethiopia singer electrified a generation with songs of freedom and protest
- Sierra Leone doctors’ strike leaves covid-19 patients stranded
- Pump or dump? With oil in decline, Africa ponders its energy future
- Two killed in clashes as mourners struggle to get into Ethiopia singer’s funeral
- South Africa man dragged naked from shack sparks legal action against evictions
- Six hurt in scuffles with security forces at Ethiopia singer’s funeral
- South Africa rand firmer as currnet account surplus adds to global risk boost
- OPEC basket oil price rises above $40 for first time in 4 months
- South Africa’s SAA administrators aim to publish revised plan on July 7
- Canadian arrested in Egypt early in 2019 returns home after release, needs medical treatment
- Pirates kidnap nine in attack on vessel off Nigeria, says ship owner
- South Africa refinery explosion kills two, injures seven
- Pandemic costs Africa travel, tourism almost $55 bln
- Kenya shilling seen on back foot, Tanzania’s firming; in week ahead
- Africa does not have manifold undetected coronavirus infections – WHO
- As pandemic spreads, Congo poet warns in music video of ‘empty cooking pots’
- South Africa – CMA CGM drops port congestion surcharge for Cape Town
- Angola resists OPEC pressure to comply fully with oil cuts – sources
- Eight years after bombing, Somalia reopens national theatre
- Kenya shilling holds steady against the dollar
- South Africa records first current account surplus in 17 years
- Explosion at Astron Energy’s South Africa refinery kills at least 2 – source
- World food price index rises in June, first increase in 2020 – UN
- How to rid East Africa of locusts? Serve them in a kebab or drive them to cannibalism
N.B. Full stories of above headlines are available on Reuters