At the start of this week the United States is steadily approaching 3.5 million coronavirus cases, while Brazil is headed for 2 million, though neither numbers have been officially reached yet.
The US still reports high daily increases, close or above 60,000. This tendency kept through last week and will likely continue for the time being. Brazil and India are still reporting 25,000-30,000 new infections per day, showing that the outbreaks have not peaked there either.
South Africa has come to the foreground of the pandemic as it now has 276,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, having reported 12,000 new ones yesterday. The situation is bound to get worse there in the coming weeks. It will help to keep an eye on other African nations as well. The region has been spared from the worst of the pandemic so far but things might be changing now that the coronavirus is making its way through South Africa.
Regardless of the current situation with the coronavirus, which is quite serious in the United States, as shown above, US stock markets are doing well. Today we see increases in the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Dow Jones.
The crude oil market is coming into focus this week again with another OPEC+ summit on the horizon. The current agreement to keep oil output lower than usual expires at the end of July and OPEC+ members have so far indicated they do not intend to extend it, despite the pressure exercised by the coronavirus on the demand for oil globally.
Unsurprisingly, with the prospect of more oil flooding the market again in a few weeks’ time, oil prices are beginning to sink. The Brent crude dropped to $42.62, while the WTI reached $39.85 per day.
In Europe, the most interesting news of the day is that the Polish President Andrzej Duda won a second term in office at this weekend’s elections. His stance and policies have been criticized by the European Union before, so his re-election is not likely to improve the relations between the bloc and Poland.
