Oil prices increased by more than 1% in quiet trading due to public holidays in Britain and the United States. This followed a pessimistic week marked by concerns about U.S. interest rates amidst persistent inflation. The Brent crude July contract settled 1.2% higher closing at $83.12 a barrel while the more active August contract surged by  $1.04 to close at $82.88.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up by 93 cents closing at $78.65.

The Bank of Israel maintained short-term interest rates unchanged on Monday for the third consecutive meeting, citing increasing price pressures, a resurgence in economic activity, and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty stemming from Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza. The central bank kept its benchmark rate  neat 4.50%. However, It had lowered the rate by 25 basis points in January after inflation eased and economic growth was hit by the war, but kept policy steady in February and April. The shekel remained unchanged against the dollar at 3.675, showing strength compared to a month ago when it was at 3.83 against the dollar, primarily due to anticipated postponement in the monetary easing process.

Profits at China’s industrial enterprises increased by 4.3% during the initial four months compared to the same period last year. This rise mirrored the 4.3% growth observed in the first quarter and coincided with a range of diverse activity data for April. Industrial profit data encompasses firms with annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan ($2.76 million) from their primary operations. However,a dollar to a yuan is 7.239 Chinese yuan

Ghana’s central bank kept its main interest rate steady at 29% for the second consecutive time. However, a slump  in its  local currency has slowed inflation’s decline. The West African cocoa, gold and oil giant has defaulted on most of its external borrowing in December 2022, in a bid to come off its economic crisis. consumer inflation decreased slightly to 25.0% year-on-year from 25.8% in March. However, it still surpasses the central bank’s 8% target.

Burkina Faso’s ruling junta will remain in power for another five years according to the approved new charter. The participants in national talks on Saturday recommended prolonging the transition back to democracy in Burkina Faso by 60 months from July. The military authorities took control and pledged to organize elections in July of the current year to reinstate civilian governance. However, they also emphasized that security concerns would be given precedence. The escalation of violence in the Sahel region of West Africa, fueled by a decade-long conflict with Islamist groups affiliated with al Qaeda and Islamic State, has intensified following the seizures of power by the respective militaries in Burkina Faso and neighboring Mali and Niger.