U.S. equity futures fell and Treasuries advanced on signs that a second wave of the pandemic is emerging. European stocks pared losses, while the dollar strengthened against most other currencies.

S&P 500 futures sank 1.6%, indicating U.S. stocks are going to resume last week’s bruising sell off. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.4 percent, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 2.4 percent while the MSCI Emerging Market Index fell 1.9 percent.

The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell to 0.67%. Rising health-care shares blunted the retreat in European equities. BP Plc slumped as the British oil major predicted the pandemic will hurt long-term energy demand.

Elsewhere, bitcoin slid below 9,000 dollars for the first time since May. Commodities also retreated, with gold, oil and copper all lower.

Gold weakened 1.1 percent to 1,711 dollars, 47 cents an ounce.

Futures on the S&P 500 Index decreased 1.5% as of 11:16 a.m. London time.

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Zambia has asked the Paris Club of creditor nations to let it suspend principal and interest payments on debts to all its official creditors from May to the end of December.

In a statement, Zambia's Finance Ministry told the Paris Club that the country remains committed to servicing debt payments that fell due before May 1. The request for the suspension was made in a letter to the Paris Club.

The statement notes that Zambia has been listed among countries eligible for relief under the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), which aims to help nations respond to COVID-19 health challenges and economic shocks.

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The International Monetary Fund has cut Senegal’s 2020 economic growth forecast to 1.1% from a 3% estimate in April due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, the IMF says the cut was because Senegal's economy has been battered by border closures, a curfew and social distancing. The fund said it had expected 6.8 percent growth for the country this year.

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A United Nations report has found that gold production in Democratic Republic of Congo continues to be systematically underreported while tonnes of the precious metal is smuggled into global supply chains through its eastern neighbours.

In its annual report, the UN Group of Experts on the Congo found that North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces reported official production of just over 60kg of artisanal gold in 2019, yet exported a total of just over 73kg.

The group estimated that at least 1.1 tonnes of gold were smuggled out of Ituri province alone in 2019. That would have earned the government up to $1.88 million in taxes had it been legally exported.

The group also estimated that more than 95% of gold exports from Uganda in 2019, which totaled just over 25 tonnes, were not of Ugandan origin, based on 2018 production and 2019 export data.

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South Africa’s energy ministry has began consultations with industry on preparations for a proposed 2,500 megawatt nuclear power plant building programme, which has faced opposition from environmental campaigners.

In a statement, the energy ministry says it aims to use the consultation process - known as a Request for Information - to get some idea of the cost, possible ownership structures, cost recovery, the end-user cost and sustainability of the nuclear programme.

The energy ministry said upfront planning is necessary for security of energy supply to society into the future, given the long lead-time of building additional new nuclear capacity.

South Africa wants to supplement its power capacity because of problems at state utility Eskom’s fleet of coal-fired power plants, some of which will be decommissioned over the next two decades.

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South Africa’s rand opened weaker on Monday as investors sold riskier currencies on fears of a second wave of the coronavirus in China.

At 0652 GMT, the South African currency traded at 17 rand, 31 cents against the dollar. This was around 1.5% lower than its close on Friday.

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Orange, France’s largest telecom operator, believes it would benefit from having a wider footprint in Africa and will give itself a few months to make a possible move. Chief Executive Officer of the company, Stephane Richard, during an interview Les Echos business newspaper, said “It could make sense to be in economies such as Nigeria and South Africa.” According to him, the time frame is rather a few months than a few years.”

Richard declined to comment on a possible interest in South Africa’s MTN Group Ltd. He however said Orange would also be looking at bolstering partnerships with health companies or institutions.

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Nigeria's Department of Petroleum Resources has outlined some strategic plans that would guarantee the survival of Nigeria’s oil industry post COVID-19 pandemic. DPR’s Director, Sarki Auwalu, disclosed some of the plans while speaking during a webinar.

The DPR boss, in a statement, said “There is no better time for strategic repositioning and business optimisation, adding that there are four ways this can be achieved.

He further noted that the DPR embarked on marginal field bid round, policy and regulations, business environment and investment drive, among others, in order to ensure that the sector was beneficially sustained post COVID-19 pandemic.

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Data from the Nigerian Electricity System Operation has shown total power generation in the country fell to 2,943.4 MegaWatts as of 6am on Sunday from 3585.6 MegaWatts on Saturday. The data also showed the number of plants shut down increased from eight as of 6am on Saturday to 10 on Sunday.

The affected plants were Sapele (steam), Sapele II, Alaoji, Olorunsogo II, Omotosho II, Ihovbor, Gbarain, Ibom Power, AES and ASCO.

The shutdown of the power plants was attributed to gas constraint, low load demand by the distribution companies, maintenance, frequency response and rupturing of gas pipeline.

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Meanwhile, Nigeria’s COVID-19 cases surpassed 16,000 on Sunday as Gombe State, with 73 cases, had the highest number of infections for the day.

In a late-night tweet, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control added that the country had 403 new cases of the virus.

According to the agency, Lagos State trails Gombe in reported cases for the day with 68 new infections, followed by Kano State where 46 more people got the virus.

The latest figures bring the number of COVID-19 cases recorded in Nigeria to 16,085 with 5,220 discharged. The NCDC figures also showed 420 Nigerians have died from the disease.

Globally, over 431 thousand people have died from the virus as at 1900 GMT on Sunday while 7.848 million cases have been registered in 196 countries and territories. Of these, at least 3.534 million have recovered.

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