The price of US crude rose for the fourth month in a row in July as demand continued to rise while supply remained tight, according to Bloomberg. WTI futures closed out the week up 2.6%, reaching USD 73.95 per barrel. Notably, demand has remained strong despite worries over the spread of the delta covid variant. One analyst told the business news information service that US crude will soon reach USD 80/bbl, saying that it’s going to “mostly grind higher.”

A survey has Brent treading water: The price of Brent will hover around USD 70/bbl for the rest of the year, averaging USD 68.76 for the next five months, according to a Reuters poll of 38 analysts.

Highest output since April 2020 following OPEC+ pact: OPEC oil production hit its highest level since April 2020 in July following the supply agreement with its Russia-led allies, according to Reuters. OPEC+ last month reached an agreement to add another 400k bbls/d of supply to the global market, helping to soften the recent rally which has seen the price of Brent surge 45% since the start of the year. This helped the cartel to pump 26.72 mn bbls/d, 610k bbls more than forecast in June and the highest monthly figure for 15 months.

And Saudi Arabia is set to reap the rewards: The kingdom’s net foreign assets rose 2% in June after slumping to a 10 year low due to declining oil income, Bloomberg reports. The increase of USD 9.1 bn last month is expected to be further buoyed by recovering oil prices.

As Europe exits recession…: The eurozone clawed its way out of recession in 2Q2021, reporting growth of 2%, according to official data (pdf) released Friday. This is faster than expected by a Reuters poll of economists which forecast 1.5% growth during the three-month period. The bloc had slumped back into a mild contraction during the previous two quarters after reporting explosive growth of 12.4% in 3Q2020.

…China is slowing: Manufacturing activity in China grew at its slowest pace since February 2020 in July, as higher prices of raw materials, bad weather and equipment maintenance knocked business confidence, according to Reuters.

…And seeing its stocks tank: Investors in Chinese stocks lost some USD 1 tn over the past week after a ban by Chinese authorities on profits by tutoring companies triggered a sharp sell-off amid concerns that no industry is safe from Beijing’s regulatory meddling, Bloomberg reports. The Golden Dragon China index has lost 19% over three trading days last week, while the MSCI China Index declined 5.6%, the most since March 2020.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 0.3% during Thursday’s session on turnover of EGP 2.1 bn (41.1% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 0.9% YTD.

In the green: Alexandria Mineral Oils (+1.7%), MM Group (+1.5%) and Egypt Kuwaiti Holding (+0.8%).

In the red: Fawry (-2.7%), Orascom Financial Holding (-2.0%) and GB Auto (-1.8%).