What you should know:

•  The rand is marginally stronger this morning at R14.24/$ after closing stronger on Friday (R14.25/$*).
• EM currencies were mixed on Friday; the ZAR (+1.2%), MXN (+1.1%) and COP (+1.1%) were amongst the biggest gainers; the PEN (-0.6%), THB (-0.5%) and TWD (-0.3%) were amongst the biggest losers.
  
• Asian equity markets are mixed this morning; the Nikkei and Hang Seng are down, while the Shanghai Composite is up.
• Covid-19 global update: cases have surpassed 184.57 million, while the death toll has surpassed 3.99 million; recoveries are at 168.92 million.
• The US has 34.59 million cases, accounting for 19% of global cases; the US death toll is 621,293.
• India has 30.58 million cases and 402,758 deaths; Brazil has 18.76 million cases and 524,475 deaths.
• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to set out the final stage of his roadmap out of lockdown at a press conference today.
• France has warned that it may see a surge of Delta variant cases over the coming weeks and has urged residents to get vaccinated to limit the wave.
• New cases in Sydney fell as residents were urged to comply with restrictions to curb viral spread; lockdown restrictions, however, may be extended for another 2 weeks.
• The Tokyo Olympics organizers are leaning toward barring fans from large venues.
• South Korea has reversed a relaxation of mask rules in Seoul following a spike in cases.
• Globally, over 3.19 billion vaccines have been administered across 180 countries at a rate of 39.4 million doses a day.
• Central Bank watch: The Fed’s FOMC minutes of the June meeting are due on Wednesday.
• Investors will be looking for more detail on the debate over inflation and tapering as well as any potential insights on officials' views on liquidity in the system and asset purchases.
• The Reserve Bank of Australia may hold rates steady tomorrow, while extending its QE program.
• The ECB meeting minutes will be released on Thursday.
• The central banks of Malaysia and Sri Lanka are expected to keep rates unchanged on Thursday.
• The BOC will release its business outlook survey today.
• The European Commission will release its latest economic forecasts on Wednesday.
• The May UK GDP data is due for release on Friday and is expected to have moderated to 1.5% m/m, from 2.3% m/m in April.
• Africa’s Covid-19 cases are at 5.71 million; fatalities are at 145,951.
• Morocco has 534,550 reported cases, Nigeria 167,859, Ghana 96,317, Kenya 185,868.
• SA has the 19th highest caseload, at 2.062 million; 16,585 new cases were reported yesterday.
• Covid-19 deaths rose by 333 yesterday, to 61,840; 1.808 million people (or 87.6%) have recovered from the virus.
• 13.45 million tests have been conducted since 5 March 2020; 54,879 tests were conducted yesterday.
• The positivity rate is 30.2%.
• 3.314 million vaccines have been administered to date.
• The industry-wide PMI for June is due for release today; the index slipped to 53.2 pts in May.
• The BER’s manufacturing PMI slipped to 57.4 pts, from 57.8 pts in May.
• Brent crude oil is down this morning, and up by 46.9% year-to-date.
• The gold price is unchanged this morning, and down by 5.9% year-to-date.
• Brent crude oil is currently at $76.06/bbl; ($76.17/bbl*).
• Gold is at $1787/oz ($1787/oz*).
• SA CDS 188bps*, higher than Brazil 165bps* and lower than Turkey 385bps*.
• Yields: US 10yr at 1.42%*, German bund at -0.235%* and SA 10-year generic at 9.35%*, SA’s R186 at 7.51%*.

* Denotes Friday’s close.

Key events and data:

• 09h15: SA industry-wide PMI (June)
• 10h00: Eurozone Markit services and composite PMI (June)
• 10h30: Eurozone Sentix investor confidence (July)