JOHANNESBURG, April 7 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s rand retreated in early trade on Wednesday, though the unit hovered near its five-week best as a softer U.S. dollar and global economic recovery hopes boosted demand for riskier but high-yielding currencies.
At 0630 GMT, the rand traded at 14.5350 against the dollar, 0.21% weaker than its previous close. The currency was not far off its five-week high of 14.4900 hit in the previous session.
&#8220;Hopes of a global economic recovery as countries continue their vaccination rollout programmes have led to lower yields and ongoing risk appetite,&#8221; Bianca Botes, executive director at Citadel Global said in a note.
The dollar softened to a two-week low against a basket of currencies on Wednesday after U.S. bond yields declined as traders rolled back aggressive expectations that the Federal Reserve will tighten its policy earlier than pledged.
Locally, investor focus is on manufacturing activity and business confidence data expected later in the day. The data will give some insights into the health of an economy that last year suffered its worst annual decline in a century, after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted economic activity.
Government bond firmed in early deals, and the yield on the instrument due in 2030 fell 2 basis points to 9.445%. (Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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South African rand hovers near five-week peak as dollar softens

JOHANNESBURG, April 7 (Reuters) &#8211; The following scheduled economic events, company announcements, equity and currency market moves may affect South African markets on Wednesday.

ECONOMIC EVENTS
&#8211; South Africa Business Confidence Index numbers

SOUTH AFRICAN MARKETS
South Africa&#8217;s rand edged firmer to a new five-week best on Tuesday, boosted by greater risk demand as U.S. treasuries slipped and global commodity prices rallied.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) extended its run of gains as positive growth indicators in the United States and China pumped momentum into shares globally.

GLOBAL MARKETS
A gauge of Asian shares climbed to three-week highs on Wednesday as investors eyed the upcoming earnings season for further signs of a global economic recovery, while the dollar slipped to a two-week low.

WALL STREET
The S&amp;P 500 slipped on Tuesday but stayed near closing record highs posted in consecutive sessions, as investors weighed more strong U.S. economic data against nervousness about upcoming quarterly earnings reports.

GOLD
Gold prices fell on Wednesday, from a two-week high hit in the previous session, as an array of strong data from the United States and increased COVID-19 vaccinations lifted hopes of a quick economic recovery, weighing on the metal&#8217;s safe-haven appeal.

EMERGING MARKETS
For the top emerging markets news, double click on
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;

Some of the main stories out in the South African press:

BUSINESS DAY
&#8211; Cement maker PPC shares crumble on news of JSE investigation
&#8211; Vodacom Group drops data prices to increase traffic volumes
(Compiled by Promit Mukherjee)
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South African Markets – Factors to watch on April 7

The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Wednesday. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; GLOBAL MARKETS Asia equities are set for a sluggish open on Wednesday after Wall Street pulled back from record highs reached in previous sessions, as investors eye the upcoming earnings season for more signs of a recovery following a series of strong U.S. economic data. WORLD OIL PRICES Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday on the prospects for stronger global economic growth amid increased COVID-19 vaccinations and a report that crude inventories in the United States, the world&#8217;s biggest fuel consumer, fell. EMERGING MARKETS For the top emerging markets news, double click on AFRICA STOCKS For the latest news on African stocks, click on SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS South Africa&#8217;s rand edged firmer to a new five-week best on Tuesday, boosted by greater risk demand as U.S. treasuries slipped and global commodity prices rallied. NIGERIA PRISON More than 1,800 prisoners are on the run in southeast Nigeria after escaping when heavily armed gunmen attacked their prison using explosives and rocket-propelled grenades, the authorities said. KENYA MARKETS Kenya&#8217;s shilling gained ground against the dollar on Tuesday due to lack of importer demand, traders said. MOZAMBIQUE INSURGENCY/TANZANIA United Nations teams have received &#8220;worrying&#8221; reports that Tanzania has rejected over 1,000 people seeking refuge from an Islamic State-claimed attack on a town in northern Mozambique, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday. TANZANIA PRESS Tanzania&#8217;s new President Samia Suluhu Hassan said on Tuesday she would lift a ban on all media in the country, a radical shift from a press crackdown implemented by her late predecessor John Magufuli. IVORY COAST POLITICS Ivory Coast&#8217;s President Alassane Ouattara has confirmed his younger brother Tene Birahima Ouattara as minister of defence, part of a slate of new appointments announced on Tuesday. IVORY COAST COCOA Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 1.660 million tonnes by April 4 since the start of the 2020/2021 season on Oct. 1, exporters estimated on Tuesday, up 1.6% from the same period last season. ETHIOPIA SECURITY Border clashes between Ethiopia&#8217;s Afar and Somali regions have killed at least 100 people, a regional official said on Tuesday, the latest outbreak of violence ahead of national elections in June. ETHIOPIA DAM/EGYPT Egypt and Sudan said on Tuesday that the latest round of talks with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Kinshasa have ended with no progress. CHAD DEBT/IMF Chad&#8217;s creditors will get together within the next week to deal with the African country&#8217;s request for debt relief under a new common framework agreed last year by the Group of 20 major economies and the Paris Club of official creditors, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Tuesday. CONGO MINING/GLENCORE Glencore&#8217;s Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) mine in the Congo had a &#8220;limited release&#8221; of sulphuric acid from a tank during maintenance work on March 16, the commodities trading giant said on Tuesday. BENIN ELECTION/PROTEST Opponents of Benin&#8217;s President Patrice Talon protested in several cities and towns on Monday night and Tuesday morning, denouncing his decision to stand for re-election next week. For the latest precious metals report click on For the latest base metals report click on For the latest crude oil report click on 
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African Markets – Factors to watch on April 7

By Laurie Goering
LONDON, April 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; From heat-resistant crops to insurance that helps nations rebuild after a disaster, efforts to adapt to growing climate risks are taking root in Africa &#8211; but the work is too slow and is now threatened by COVID-19, African leaders warned Tuesday.
Just 3% of international climate finance is reaching the continent, Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), told an online meeting seeking advice from African heads of state on how to accelerate adaptation.
The bank said earlier this year it would raise $25 billion by 2025 to spur climate action in Africa, with at least half going to back projects to adapt and build resilience to worsening droughts, storms, floods and sea level rise.
But with the coronavirus pandemic hitting economies and development budgets around the world, raising money for climate action has become harder over the last year, even as climate change-related risks surge, African leaders admitted.
&#8220;We are soon going to need at least this much ($25 billion) every year if we do not effectively mitigate and reverse climate change,&#8221; warned Gabon&#8217;s President Ali Bongo.
&#8220;Every day the thunderstorms seem more violent. Flooding is more frequent and droughts are more severe,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Crops are failing. People are being forced to flee their homes (and) becoming climate refugees.&#8221;
Niger&#8217;s President Mohamed Bazoum said the economic downturn triggered by COVID-19 had destroyed jobs on a continent already struggling with legions of unemployed youth, &#8220;pushing them into the arms of organised crime and terrorists&#8221;.
But across the continent, varied climate adaptation efforts are already protecting lives and incomes, the leaders said.
In Sudan, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said a switch to heat-tolerant wheat on 800,000 acres, backed by the AfDB, &#8220;has made it possible to produce wheat in climates previously considered totally impossible&#8221;.
Ethiopia has similarly invested in large-scale land restoration and forest re-planting, which has helped shore up water supplies &#8211; and countries from Mozambique to Mali are now covered by risk-pooled disaster insurance.
But Senegal&#8217;s President Macky Sall warned the pandemic was diverting funds from climate change adaptation and threatened to dry up that money in the long term, as debt-laden African countries struggled to right their listing economies.
Much of the continent has seen good economic growth over the last few decades, but with COVID-19 &#8220;all efforts have been reduced to nil&#8221;, Sall told the online event.
&#8220;Everything has been put at a standstill,&#8221; he added, warning that the downturn, bringing job losses and cuts in investment, &#8220;will lead to deeper problems in all our countries&#8221;.
The AfDB and the Global Center on Adaptation hosted Tuesday&#8217;s meeting as part of their joint Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program, which aims to boost African efforts to adapt agriculture and infrastructure while creating jobs.
The AfDB, for instance, intends to provide weather information and advice to 30 million African farmers via their mobile phones, and to help a million young Africans build skills to create green jobs that advance adaptation.
The program &#8220;will build on what is working&#8221;, Adesina said. The bank has already boosted the share of its finance spent on climate change from 9% in 2016 to an expected 40% this year, with more than half of that going to adaptation work, he noted.
That has included a push to expand a regional insurance initiative to more vulnerable African nations and support for work to plant a &#8220;Great Green Wall&#8221; of trees across the Sahel to hold back desertification and protect farmers.
But Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan said much more needed to be done rapidly, including in island nations like his hit hard by sea level rise and coastal erosion.
&#8220;Climate change cannot wait while we address COVID-19,&#8221; he said. (Reporting by Laurie Goering @lauriegoering; editing by Megan Rowling. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate)
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African leaders warn COVID-19 crisis harming climate adaptation push

LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) &#8211; Spot trade was quiet on Tuesday despite a flurry of offers while new tenders were expected to mop up some of the overhang.
NIGERIA
* Exxon Mobil was offering Qua Iboe cargoes loading in May at dated Brent plus 10 cents. The company was also showing Chadian Doba at dated Brent plus 80 cents and Equatorial Guinean Zafiro at dated Brent plus 30 cents.
* Gunvor was offering an end-May loading cargo of Qua Iboe at dated Brent plus 30 cents while Eni was showing a cargo of Forcados at dated Brent plus 70 cents.

ANGOLA
* State company Sonangol was still offering a cargo of Saturno at dated Brent minus $1.50, loading May 18. It sold a cargo of Cabinda to Asia at the end of last week.
* Exxon was offering a cargo of Kissanje at dated Brent minus 60 cents.

TENDERS
* South Africa&#8217;s Sasol issued a buy tender, seeking crude for May 24-25 delivery, closing April 6.
* India&#8217;s IOC bought Norwegian grade Johan Sverdrup for the first in its latest tender for crude loading May 27 to June 5.
* India&#8217;s IOC issued two new tenders for west African crude loading in early June. Both close April 8.
RELATED NEWS
* Indian state refiners will buy 36% less oil from Saudi Arabia in May than normal, three sources said, in a sign of escalating tensions with Riyadh even after the Kingdom supported the idea of boosting output from OPEC and allied producers last week. (Reporting by Julia Payne Editing by Paul Simao) ))
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W. Africa Crude-More Indian tenders to mop up overhang

LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) &#8211; Benchmark northwest European gasoline margins rose to above $11 a barrel on Tuesday, supported by strong demand from the United States. * Weekly exports to North America reached around 110,000 tonnes, the latest Refinitiv Eikon data showed. * Exports reached 1.3 million tonnes in March, the highest since July 2019, according to the data. * Exports to West Africa reached 1.24 million tonnes last month. * U.S. weekly gasoline stocks fell by 1.7 million barrels last week, the latest Energy Information Administration data showed. * Global energy trader Vitol suffered an $85 billion fall in revenue last year, but its profits were boosted as trading plays offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on oil demand and prices. ​ Gasoline (in tonnes) Trades Bids Offers Prev. Sellers Buyers (vol.) Trades Ebob Barges MOC Platts E5 (fob ARA) &lt;EUROBOB -ARA&gt; Ebob Barges E10 Platts(f ob ARA) Ebob $614-$623 $620.75- Shell, Varo, Barges .25 $622.75 Total, Gunvor Argus (6.8KT) Vitol E5(fob AR) Ebob $620-$624 Shell Gunvor, Barges (10KT) Varo E10 Argus (fob AR) April $618.50 swap fob ARA Premium $624 (4 $619-$62 Unleaded barges) 0 (fob ARA) &lt;PU-10PP -ARA&gt; Cargoes (fob MED) Cargoes $630 $633 (cif (cif (cif NWE) Thames Thames ) ) Naphtha (cif NWE) &lt;NAF-C-N WE&gt; Ebob crack (per barrel) $11.147 prev. $10.234 Brent futures Rbob Rbob crack &lt;RBc1-CLc1&gt; (Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.) 
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Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Gasoline gains on strong U.S. demand

By Clara-Laeila Laudette
MADRID, April 6 (Reuters) &#8211; Spain&#8217;s Merlin said on Tuesday it planned to build four carbon-neutral data centres across Spain and Portugal as it seeks to diversify from its coronavirus-hit real estate business and cater to data-intensive companies such as Netflix.
The data centres will be built in partnership with tech infrastructure specialist Edged Energy on plots of land within Merlin&#8217;s existing logistics portfolio in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, and the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.
The companies will also install over 100MW of electric vehicle charging stations alongside the data centres for logistics clients looking to convert their freight fleet to electric trucks as pressure mounts to cut carbon emissions.
As the pandemic accelerates the digitisation of activity and increases dependence on both logistics and data processing, the need for large, reliable data centres closer to population hubs &#8211; which often boast dense fibre optic networks &#8211; has grown.
&#8220;You can’t service Spanish 5G markets from the availability zones in the Netherlands or U.S.,&#8221; said Merlin co-founder David Brush. &#8220;Docusign, Dropbox, Salesforce, Netflix – all those customer uses drive demand for data centres, with COVID accelerating the need.&#8221;
With ultra-fast 5G mobile data looming, the world&#8217;s data infrastructure should be more widespread to avoid serious lags in online activity &#8211; and become less energy-intensive, Edged Energy founder Jakob Carnemark told Reuters.
Edged Energy, a subsidiary of renewable technologies company Endeavour, will build the data centres linked to local renewable energy grids, and consuming no water &#8211; an unusual feature in a field known for guzzling water to cool its servers.
&#8220;Our focus is to make data centres better stewards of water and energy, and provide resiliency services for the grid as it adopts more variable energy sources,&#8221; Carnemark said, adding that Spain &#8211; with its access to submarine fibre optic cables and entry points into Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the United States &#8211; was becoming an ideal location for servicing data. (Reporting by Clara-Laeila Laudette; editing by Supantha Mukherjee and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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Spain’s Merlin enters data race with eco-friendly centres project

COTONOU, April 6 (Reuters) &#8211; Opponents of Benin&#8217;s President Patrice Talon protested in several cities and towns on Monday night and Tuesday morning, denouncing his decision to stand for re-election next week.
Talon, who came to power in 2016, is due to run against two challengers on Sunday, despite a promise he would serve only one term.
Hundreds of people marched, burned tires and set up road blocks in the commercial capital, Cotonou, a Reuters witness said. Posts on social media showed demonstrations also taking place in the central city of Parakou and three other towns.
&#8220;We want the president to leave. Five years means five years,&#8221; said Cotonou protester Rodrigue Amadou.
In that city, most protesters had been dispersed by midday and military vehicles patrolled the streets.
The opposition want Talon to honour a promise made when he was first elected to step down after five years to avoid &#8220;complacency&#8221; and seek to limit future presidents to a single term.
They also say that his term ended on April 6, rejecting a constitutional revision in 2019 that extended the mandate until May.
On Monday night, a government spokesman labelled the protests a &#8220;totally pointless cause.&#8221;
Benin&#8217;s image as a bastion of democracy and stability in West Africa was dented by the exclusion of opposition leaders from parliamentary elections in 2019, which sparked rare unrest.
Under Talon, leading opposition figures have also faced targeted harassment from the authorities, including through the courts, according to U.S. democracy watchdog group Freedom House. (Reporting by Allegresse Sasse; Writing by Nellie Peyton; editing by John Stonestreet)
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Protests spread in Benin as president readies for re-election bid

* Committee set up to seize assets of ousted president, associates
* Bashir faces multiple court cases including for corruption
* Task force says it returned assets worth $1.4 bln to government
* Some sacked civil servants say committee treated them unfairly
By Khalid Abdelaziz and Nafisa Eltahir
KHARTOUM, April 6 (Reuters) &#8211; The group set up to claw back assets from ousted President Omar al-Bashir and his associates said it had retrieved hundreds of millions of dollars in property and cash, but it faces resistance and criticism that it applies &#8220;selective justice&#8221;.
The committee&#8217;s progress is seen as a litmus test for the peaceful transition to democratic rule after the 2019 overthrow of Bashir, who dominated Sudanese politics for 30 years before the military forced him out after a popular uprising.
The 77-year-old is currently in jail in the capital Khartoum and faces several judicial cases on charges of treason, corruption and war crimes, which he denies.
When it began reporting last year on the holdings of the Bashir-era elite &#8211; which include prime Nile-front property in Khartoum, fertile farmland and profitable companies &#8211; the committee&#8217;s televised briefings were eagerly followed.
Wagdi Salih, a lawyer and politician who sits on the 18-member body, said it had handed back more than $1 billion in assets to the finance ministry and another $400 million to the ministry of religious affairs and endowments.
He also told Reuters its members had faced death threats, that the committee did not receive the funding it needed and that authorities had been slow to follow up on its investigations.
That, he added, showed how far the roots of Bashir&#8217;s rule stretched, including within the transitional government tasked with steering the country to elections by the end of 2023.
&#8220;Everyone who stands in the way of dismantling the June 30 regime is either part of the old regime, or their interests are tied up with the old regime and so they are trying to preserve it,&#8221; he said, referring to the date when Bashir took power in a bloodless coup in 1989.
Government spokesman and Information Minister Hamza Balol said the committee was carrying out its constitutional duties and its efforts to reclaim ill-gotten assets were appreciated.
Sudan&#8217;s public prosecutor could not be reached for comment.

DISMANTLING THE REGIME
Sudan is run by a power-sharing alliance of civilian political groups and the military, which stepped in following months of protests demanding that Bashir and the political and financial complex that supported him be dismantled.
Officially known as the Committee to Dismantle the June 30, 1989 Regime and Retrieve Public Funds, the task force includes politicians, military leaders and government officials and is due to operate until the end of the transition period.
So far it has seized more than 50 companies and 60 organizations, more than a million feddans (420,000 hectares) of farmland and 20 million square meters of residential property, a committee source said.
Among assets reclaimed are hotels, schools, factories, and a golf course on the outskirts of Khartoum, all of which Salih said would continue to operate.
Another is Tayba, a broadcaster that Bashir told court he helped finance and which the committee said had beamed content supporting groups including Islamist political movement the Muslim Brotherhood and jihadists Boko Haram across Africa.
Its facilities, far more advanced than those of the national broadcaster, would now be used to launch new channels, said interim manager Maher Abuljokh.
&#8220;The public watches the committee and we are happy that what&#8217;s ours is being retrieved and brought back to us so that we can benefit from it,&#8221; said Mayada Khairy, an activist.

PURGE
Another of the group&#8217;s stated aims has been to purge public bodies of Bashir loyalists. Many officials who supported the leader&#8217;s Islamist ideology were promoted within the government as part of a policy known as &#8220;tamkeen&#8221;, or empowerment.
That attempt has triggered a backlash from those affected, some of whom gathered in protest last month in Khartoum to complain that around 7,000 people had been fired from the civil service without proper explanation or appeal process.
&#8220;Hold us accountable, tell us what law we broke, and we can respond to it. That&#8217;s the law, and that&#8217;s the justice they claim to have brought in the revolution,&#8221; said Safia Ahmed, a former legal counsel at the justice ministry who was dismissed last year.
Some critics see the committee as a means for easy political point scoring by a government struggling to manage an economic crisis, while others are concerned about what they see as a shaky legal framework.
A better approach would be to establish a group of independent commissioners, rather than politicians, able to apply the law equally to every individual, said Mohamed Abdelsalam, dean of the University of Khartoum law school.
&#8220;The current practice can be labeled as selective justice,&#8221; he told Reuters, warning of a lack of due process.
The committee said it could not control the fact that a mandated appeals commission and judicial tribunal to review its decisions have yet to convene, but said it had made some revisions on its own.
It only removed those who actively opposed Bashir&#8217;s overthrow and did not discriminate based on political ideology, according to Salih. (Additional reporting by El Tayeb Siddig; Writing by Nafisa Eltahir, Editing by Aidan Lewis and Mike Collett-White)
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Sudan task force chasing Bashir-era assets sees progress, faces criticism

* IMF lifts EM growth forecast to 6.7% in 2021, keeps 5% for 2022 Divergent recovery paths to widen gap in living standards -IMF
* Pandemic continues to exact large toll on sub-Saharan Africa
By Karin Strohecker
LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) &#8211; Developing economies will grow faster this year than previously forecast, according to the International Monetary Fund, but many outside Asia will lag developed peers, potentially scuppering progress on narrowing the gap in living standards.
In its World Economic Outlook &#8211; released at the start of the IMF&#8217;s and World Bank&#8217;s spring meetings &#8211; the fund raised its overall prediction for growth across emerging market and developing economies to 6.7% in 2021, from 6.3% in its January report. All regions enjoyed an upgrade to 2021 growth projections.
However, the fund kept its 2022 forecast for emerging markets unchanged at 5.0%, but lifted its predictions for advanced economies&#8217; growth this year and next to 5.1% and 3.6% respectively.
While China already returned to pre-Covid GDP levels in 2020 and the United States is expected to do so this year, many emerging markets will not get there before well into 2023, IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath wrote in the report.
&#8220;The divergent recovery paths are likely to create significantly wider gaps in living standards between developing countries and others, compared to pre-pandemic expectations,&#8221; said Gopinath.
The IMF calculates that cumulative per capita income in emerging markets ex-China over 2020–2022 will be 20% lower than pre-pandemic projections, while in advanced economies it would be only 11% lower.
&#8220;This has reversed gains in poverty reduction, with an additional 95 million people expected to have entered the ranks of the extreme poor in 2020, and 80 million more undernourished than before,&#8221; Gopinath added.
A regional breakdown of growth outlooks across emerging markets showed the divergences. Asian economies were now expected to expand by 8.6% this year and 6.0% in 2022 after lockdowns were eased in large countries such as India.
Meanwhile emerging Europe is forecast to grow 4.4% this year, Latin American and Caribbean nations were seen expanding 4.6%, while growth in the Middle East and Central Asia as well as Sub-Saharan Africa is seen at 3.7% and 3.4% respectively.
All of the regions outside Asia were falling short of growth rates across advanced economies, which are forecast at 5.1% in 2021 thanks to large stimulus such as the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package enacted by Washington.
&#8220;The pandemic continues to exact a large toll on sub-Saharan Africa (especially, for example, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa),&#8221; the report said, adding growth rates were significantly lower than the trend anticipated before the pandemic, with tourism-reliant economies the most affected.
(Reporting by Karin Strohecker; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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IMF lifts emerging markets growth outlook but sees divergent recovery paths

JAKARTA, April 6 (Reuters) &#8211; Indonesia has reported its first case of a more transmissible new variant of the coronavirus known for reducing vaccine protection, but the government on Tuesday said vaccines being used in the country could withstand the mutation.
The new variant contains the E484K mutation found in variants first identified in South Africa and Brazil.
It is nicknamed &#8220;Eek&#8221; by some scientists for its apparent ability to evade natural immunity from previous COVID-19 infection and to reduce protection offered by current vaccines.
Siti Nadia Tarmizi, a senior health ministry official, said on Tuesday that the one variant case had recovered and did not infect close contacts, adding that the vaccines currently available in Indonesia could withstand the mutation.
However, Herawati Sudoyo, deputy director for fundamental research at the government-funded Eijkman Institute, which specialises in medical molecular biology and biotechnology, said the vaccines&#8217; ability to withstand the mutation had yet to be determined.
The first case of the variant comes as the country prepares for a reduced supply of COVID-19 vaccines due to export curbs of AstraZeneca&#8217;s shot imposed by manufacturer India to prioritise its domestic supplies.
Indonesia&#8217;s health minister said on Monday only 20 million of the 30 million doses it had ordered for a March-April delivery were available due to the export curbs.
He called for the vaccination programme to be readjusted and prioritised for the elderly.
With around 1.54 million cases and 41,900 deaths so far, Indonesia has the highest caseload in Southeast Asia and one of the worst epidemics in Asia.
Its vaccination programme aims to inoculate 181 million people and is relying heavily on a vaccine developed by China&#8217;s Sinovac due to shipment delays of the AstraZeneca vaccine. (Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Martin Petty)
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Indonesia reports coronavirus case with “Eek” mutation

(Repeats with no change to text)
* GRAPHIC &#8211; OPEC+ spare production capacity https://tmsnrt.rs/30SZSYU
By Clyde Russell
LAUNCESTON, Australia, April 6 (Reuters) &#8211; The move by the OPEC+ group of oil exporters to ease their output restrictions from May onwards is effectively a bet that the current soft demand for crude will improve at the same pace as production returns.
If history is a guide, it will be extremely difficult to get that balance correct, especially in the wake of such a large disruption to the global oil market as the coronavirus pandemic.
With the impact of the pandemic still evident, the decision by OPEC+, the group that includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and their allies, to add back an effective 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of output by July seems brave.
The group decided at a meeting on April 1 to ease their output cuts of about 7 million bpd by 350,000 bpd in May, another 350,000 bpd in June and by 400,000 bpd in July.
In addition, OPEC+&#8217;s top exporter, Saudi Arabia, said it was phasing out its extra voluntary cuts by July, a move that will add 1 million bpd.
Last week&#8217;s meeting came as something of a surprise to the crude market, which had been expecting OPEC+ to roll over their cuts for another month into May.
However, adding back 350,000 bpd for May is a relatively small amount and given that most refiners will have already completed their buying programmes for the month, this part of the OPEC+ decision can be discounted.
The further 350,000 bpd for June may also have a limited impact on the market, again, as many refiners, especially in the top importing region of Asia, are likely to have worked out their needs and therefore their loading programmes.
However, by the time July arrives, another 1.4 million bpd could be added back into the market in addition to what was put back in May and June.
The question is whether OPEC+ will be proven correct that demand is recovering at a pace that will see the market being able to absorb that much additional crude.
The group won&#8217;t want prices to retreat too much further, despite coming under some pressure from the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to lower energy costs, and increasing unhappiness about the current price in India, Asia&#8217;s second-biggest crude importer behind China.
Global benchmark Brent crude futures retreated somewhat on Monday, ending at $62.15 a barrel, down from $64.86 on April 1, the day of the OPEC+ meeting. They are also some 12.9% below the peak so far this year of $71.38, reached on March 8.

DEMAND RECOVERY?
There is evidence that Asia&#8217;s demand for imported crude is returning to levels seen before the pandemic hit demand toward the end of the first quarter of 2020.
Crude arrivals in Asia in March are expected to be around 25.2 million bpd, according to Refinitiv Oil Research, slightly down from 25.75 million bpd in February, but up from January&#8217;s 24.58 million bpd and December&#8217;s 23.21 million bpd.
Arrivals in March last year were 26.6 million bpd, while February 2020 saw 26.7 million bpd offloaded in Asia.
Overall, it seems that while Asia&#8217;s demand for imported crude is recovering, it&#8217;s not quite back to where it was pre-pandemic.
The other factor that may complicate matters is that the recovery in demand in Asia appears uneven, with gasoline performing better than middle distillates such as diesel and jet fuel.
This would suggest that light vehicle transport is returning, but industrial and aviation demand are still softer than normal.
The profit margin on a barrel of jet fuel in Singapore ended at $3.63 a barrel on Monday, up from the low so far this year of $2.23 on March 31, but still well below the levels of above $15 that were common before the pandemic.
In contrast, the profit on making a barrel of gasoline &lt;GL92-SIN-CRK&gt; was $7.20 on Monday, similar to levels that prevailed in the months prior to the coronavirus outbreak at the start of 2020.
Refiners may be tempted to switch to lighter crudes that yield more gasoline, rather than heavier grades that produce more middle distillates.
This would have the added potential benefit for some refiners, especially those in India, who are seeking to diversify supply away from OPEC+, given that many of the alternatives to Middle Eastern crude are lighter grades from West Africa, the United States, South America and Europe. (Editing by Christopher Cushing)
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RPT-COLUMN-OPEC+ bets crude oil demand will recover as fast as output returns: Russell

April 6 (Reuters) &#8211; The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1100 GMT on Tuesday:
** Dolce &amp; Gabbana is not in talks with French luxury group Kering over a possible tie-up, the chief executive of the Italian fashion company said in an interview.

** U.S. asset manager BlackRock and Canada&#8217;s Brookfield Asset Management Inc are no longer in the race to buy a stake in Saudi oil giant Aramco&#8217;s pipeline business, two sources familiar with the deal said.

** South Africa has signed an agreement with Pfizer Inc for 20 million dual shot COVID-19 vaccine doses, a government official told Reuters, boosting plans to start mass vaccinations from April. (Compiled by Sahil Shaw in Bengaluru)
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Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

April 6 (Reuters) &#8211; Holdings of the largest gold-backed exchange-traded-fund (ETF), New York&#8217;s SPDR Gold Trust remained unchanged on Monday from Thursday, while holdings of the largest silver-backed ETF, New York&#8217;s iShares Silver Trust fell 0.05% during the same period. Exchange-traded funds, the most widely recognized type of ETP, back each security issued with physical stocks of a given commodity, creating a product they say is free from counterparty risk. Name New Holdings (OZ) Date Prev Holdings (OZ) Prev Abs Change (OZ) % chg YTD Abs Change (OZ) GOLD SPDR Gold Trust 33,206,602.9 Apr 05 33,206,602.9 Apr 01 0.0 0.00% -4,433,703.0 COMEX Gold Trust 16,198,887.1 Apr 05 16,202,344.8 Apr 01 -3,457.7 -0.02% -682,764.5 ETF Securities gold (ex-US) 9,293,742.4 Nov 30 9,293,742.4 Nov 30 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ZKB Physical Gold ** 5,442,921.6 Mar 26 5,466,221.5 Mar 19 -23,299.8 -0.43% -154,867.9 Sprott Physical Gold Trust 2,606,214.0 Apr 05 2,606,214.0 Apr 01 0.0 0.00% 30,994.0 ETFS Physical Swiss Gold 844,902.3 Jan 24 844,902.3 Jan 24 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ABSA &#8211; NewGold ETF 634,299.5 Apr 01 634,304.7 Mar 31 -5.2 0.00% 10,624.1 Total 68,227,569.8 68,254,332.6 -26,762.70 -0.04% -5,472,427.1 SILVER iShares Silver Trust 574,858,999.9 Apr 05 575,124,211.9 Apr 01 -265,212.0 -0.05% 16,143,117.5 Sprott Physical Silver 133,041,866.0 Apr 05 132,641,084.0 Apr 01 400,782.0 0.30% 41,933,211.0 ETF Securities silver ex-US 100,389,761.6 Nov 30 100,389,761.6 Nov 30 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ZKB Physical Silver 95,035,446.4 Mar 26 94,956,516.3 Mar 19 78,930.1 0.08% 1,591,365.5 ETFS Physical Silver Shares 22,908,298.3 Mar 20 22,908,298.3 Mar 20 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; Total 926,234,372.2 926,019,872.1 214,500.1 0.02% 86,494,930.2 PLATINUM ETFS Physical Platinum Shares 738,343.9 Mar 20 738,343.9 Mar 20 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ABSA &#8211; NewPlat ETF 571,651.7 Apr 01 571,657.1 Mar 31 -5.4 0.00% -447,656.9 ETF Securities platinum ex-US 617,330.8 Nov 30 617,330.8 Nov 30 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ZKB Physical Platinum 442,230.8 Mar 26 442,230.8 Mar 19 0.0 0.00% 18,976.3 Total 2,369,557.2 2,369,562.6 -5.4 0.00% -406,653.2 PALLADIUM InvestPalladium ETF # 142,113.5 Mar 25 142,113.5 Mar 25 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ETFS Physical Palladium Shares 129,466.6 Mar 20 129,466.6 Mar 20 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ETF Securities palladium ex-US 111,915.0 Nov 30 111,915.0 Nov 30 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ZKB Physical Palladium 78,361.8 Mar 26 78,361.8 Mar 19 0.0 0.00% 352.6 ABSA &#8211; NewPalladium ETF **** 27,469.4 Apr 01 29,414.6 Mar 31 -1,945.2 -6.61% -14,398.1 Total 489,326.3 491,271.5 -1,945.2 -0.40% -51,349.4 The figures above are those reported to Reuters by the organizations involved by telephone or email on the date shown, or those that are publicly available on their websites. ** ZKB physical gold, silver, platinum and palladium funds are fully backed by physical precious metal and investors are entitled to physical delivery of them. *** Shareholders in the GAM Gold fund can elect to hold &#8220;A class&#8221; shares, which are fully backed by physical gold. Investors in that class are entitled to physical delivery of the precious metal. Investors may also elect to hold &#8220;AX&#8221; class shares, which are fully backed by physical gold. Investors in that class are not entitled to physical delivery of the precious metal. **** Absa Capital&#8217;s NewPalladium Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) was listed on March 27, 2014 and is fully backed with South African palladium. # Standard Bank&#8217;s AfricaPalladium ETF, South Africa&#8217;s first listed palladium exchange traded fund, debuted on March 24, 2014. 
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TABLE-Holdings of SPDR Gold unchanged, iShares Silver fall

JOHANNESBURG, April 6 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s government sold a total of 4.8 billion rand ($329.75 million) of its 2030 , 2032 and 2035 bonds on Tuesday. Yields were mostly lower compared with the previous auctions. R2030 BOND: Jan 31, 2030 &#8211; 8% coupon Auction date 06/04/21 23/03/21 Best bid % 9.370 9.250 Worst bid % 9.800 9.700 Clearing yield % 9.490 9.500 Total bids (R&#8217;bln) 4.435 3.645 Allocated (R&#8217;bln) 1.600 2.200 Bid-to-cover-ratio 2.8 1.7 R2032 BOND: March 31, 2032 &#8211; 6.25% coupon Auction date: 06/04/21 23/03/21 Best bid % 10.220 10.110 Worst bid % 10.650 10.580 Clearing yield % 10.320 10.400 Total bids (R&#8217;bln) 3.735 3.645 Allotted (R&#8217;bln) 1.600 2.200 Bid-to-cover-ratio 2.3 1.7 R2035 BOND: Feb 28, 2035 &#8211; 8.875% coupon Auction date: 06/04/21 16/03/21 Best bid % 10.880 10.600 Worst bid % 11.300 11.000 Clearing yield % 10.980 10.810 Total bids (R&#8217;bln) 4.515 3.695 Allocated (R&#8217;bln) 1.600 2.200 Bid-to-cover ratio 2.8 1.7 ($1 = 14.5567 rand) (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana Editing by Promit Mukherjee) 
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TABLE-Yields mostly lower in weekly South African government bond auction

April 6 (Reuters) &#8211; Securities analysts revised their ratings and price targets on several European companies, including Catalana Occidente, Gulf Keystone Petroleum and Santander, on Tuesday. HIGHLIGHTS * Catalana Occidente : JP Morgan cuts to neutral from overweight * Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd : Berenberg cuts to hold from buy * Harbour Energy Plc : Peel Hunt raises to hold from reduce * Mapfre : JP Morgan raises to overweight from underweight * Santander : Credit Suisse raises to outperform from neutral Following is a summary of research actions on European companies reported by Reuters on Tuesday. Stock entries are in alphabetical order. * Aallon Group Oyj : Inderes raises PT to EUR 12.5 from EUR 12.0; rating increase * ABB Ltd : Goldman Sachs reinstates with buy rating and target price CHF 35 * Adevinta ASA : UBS cuts price target to NOK 140 from NOK 150 * Admicom Oyj : Inderes cuts to reduce from increase; PT to EUR 95 from EUR 100 * Adux SA : Portzamparc raises to accumulate from hold; target price EUR 2.30 * Airtel Africa : HSBC raises target price to 80.49p from 75.97p * At &amp; S : Kepler Cheuvreux raises target price to EUR 40 from EUR 36 * Atari SA : Midcap Partners puts target under review (vs. EUR 0.7); rating buy * Atlas Copco AB : Barclays raises price target to SEK 500 from SEK 420 * Atos : Deutsche Bank cuts to hold from buy, cuts target to EUR 57 from EUR 85 * Atos : HSBC cuts target price to EUR 68 from EUR 85 * Atos : HSBC cuts to hold from buy * Atos : Kepler Cheuvreux cuts target price to EUR 80 from EUR 95 * Balta Group NV : Barclays raises price target to EUR 3 from EUR 2.8 * Barclays : Morgan Stanley raises target price to 190p from 160p * Boreo Oyj : Inderes raises target price to EUR 40 from EUR 35; rating increase * Caixabank : Barclays raises price target to EUR 3 from EUR 2.7 * Capgemini : Deutsche Bank raises target price to EUR 180 from EUR 155 * Cargotec Corp : Morgan Stanley raises target price to EUR 44 from EUR 43 * Catalana Occidente : JP Morgan cuts to neutral from overweight * Catalana Occidente : JP Morgan raises price target to EUR 35 from EUR 32.50 * Centrica : RBC raises target price to 75p from 55p * D4T4 Solutions Plc : Canaccord Genuity raises target price to 400p from 295p * Deutsche Telekom AG : Jefferies raises price target to EUR 20 from EUR 18.30 * Dormakaba Holding AG : Stifel raises target price to CHF 640 from CHF 590 * Duerr AG : Deutsche Bank raises target price to EUR 30 from EUR 25 * Epiroc AB : Barclays raises price target to SEK 185 from SEK 165 * Epiroc AB : Morgan Stanley raises target price to SEK 160 from SEK 143 * Flughafen Zuerich AG : Credit Suisse raises price target to CHF 160 from CHF 145 * Focus Home Interactive SA : Portzamparc ups PT to EUR 59.7 from EUR 59.5; hold * GEA Group AG : Barclays raises price target to EUR 39 from EUR 34 * Geberit AG : Barclays raises price target to CHF 550 from CHF 545 * Groupe CS : Portzamparc raises to accumulate from hold * Groupe CS : Portzamparc raises target price to EUR 4.9 from EUR 4.3 * Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd : Berenberg cuts to hold from buy * Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd : Berenberg raises target price to 190p from 180p * Harbour Energy Plc : Peel Hunt raises to hold from reduce * Heidelberg pharma AG : Stifel raises target price to EUR 9.50 from EUR 9.40 * Henkel AG &amp; Co KGaA : Barclays raises price target to EUR 106 from EUR 94 * Hikma : Morgan Stanley raises price target to 2600p from 2450p * Hikma : Morgan Stanley raises to overweight from equal weight * Iberdrola : JP Morgan raises price target to EUR 11.40 from EUR 11 * Interroll Holding AG : UBS raises price target to CHF 2205 from CHF 2040 * ITV : Goldman Sachs cuts to neutral from buy * Kering : Bryan Garnier raises target price to EUR 650 from EUR 640 * Kingspan Group Plc : Barclays raises price target to EUR 65 from EUR 60 * Knaus Tabbert AG : Kepler Cheuvreux raises target price to EUR 70 from EUR 65 * Knorr Bremse AG : JP Morgan cuts price target to EUR 107 from EUR 110 * Leonardo SpA : Morgan Stanley raises price target to EUR 8.30 from EUR 8.20 * Leonardo SpA : Morgan Stanley raises to overweight from equal weight * Lloyds : Morgan Stanley raises target price to 52p from 46p * L&#8217;Oreal : UBS raises price target to EUR 360 from EUR 340 * Mapfre : JP Morgan raises price target to EUR 1.98 from EUR 1.70 * Mapfre : JP Morgan raises to overweight from underweight * Michelin : Citigroup raises price target to EUR 150 from EUR 135 * Natwest Group Plc : Morgan Stanley raises target price to 245p from 225p * Ose Immunotherapeutics SA : Portzamparc ups PT to EUR 15.5 from EUR 11.7; buy * Outokumpu Oyj : Inderes raises target to EUR 5.5 from EUR 4.5; rating increase * Pendragon Plc : Liberum raises target price to 18p from 12p * Raisio Oyj : Inderes raises target price to EUR 3.7 from EUR 3.4; rating reduce * Remy Cointreau : Deutsche Bank cuts target price to EUR 184 from EUR 185 * Rockwool International A/S : Barclays raises target to DKK 2500 from DKK 2450 * Saint-Gobain : Barclays raises price target to EUR 63 from EUR 60 * Saint-Gobain : Morgan Stanley raises target price to EUR 49 from EUR 47 * Sandvik AB : Barclays raises price target to SEK 240 from SEK 230 * Sandvik AB : UBS cuts price target to SEK 202 from SEK 220 * Sandvik AB : UBS cuts to sell from neutral * Sanofi : Barclays raises price target to EUR 85 from EUR 80 * Santander : Credit Suisse raises price target to EUR 3.30 from EUR 2.70 * Santander : Credit Suisse raises to outperform from neutral * Schindler Holding AG : Barclays raises price target to CHF 245 from CHF 210 * Sika AG : Barclays raises price target to CHF 300 from CHF 290 * Sika AG : Jefferies raises price target to CHF 316 from CHF 301.20 * Sika AG : Stifel raises target price to CHF 310 from CHF 290 * SKF : Barclays raises price target to SEK 215 from SEK 205 * Telenor ASA : Barclays cuts price target to NOK 160 from NOK 170 * Telenor ASA : Barclays cuts to equal weight from overweight * TF1 : Goldman Sachs raises to buy from neutral * TF1 : Goldman Sachs upgrades TF1 to buy vs neutral * Touchstone Exploration Inc : Canaccord Genuity cuts to speculative from buy * Touchstone Exploration Inc : Canaccord Genuity cuts target price to 140p from 185p * Valneva SE : Portzamparc cuts target price to EUR 12.9 from EUR 13.6; rating buy * Varta AG : Kepler Cheuvreux cuts target price to EUR 87 from EUR 94 * Varta AG : Stifel raises target price to EUR 107 from EUR 92 * Vestas : Deutsche Bank cuts to hold from buy, cuts PT to DKK 1400 from DKK 1460 * Vetoquinol SA : Portzamparc raises to accumulate from hold * Vetoquinol SA : Portzamparc raises target price to EUR 113 from EUR 89 * Virgin Money UK Plc : Morgan Stanley raises target price to 200p from 145p (Compiled by Bengaluru Newsroom) 
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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TABLE-Yields mostly lower in weekly South African government bond auction

EUROPE RESEARCH ROUNDUP-Catalana Occidente, Gulf Keystone Petroleum, Santander

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South African rand hovers near five-week peak as dollar softens

South African Markets – Factors to watch on April 7

African Markets – Factors to watch on April 7

African leaders warn COVID-19 crisis harming climate adaptation push

W. Africa Crude-More Indian tenders to mop up overhang

Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Gasoline gains on strong U.S. demand

Spain’s Merlin enters data race with eco-friendly centres project

Protests spread in Benin as president readies for re-election bid

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TABLE-Holdings of SPDR Gold unchanged, iShares Silver fall

TABLE-Yields mostly lower in weekly South African government bond auction

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