General Sentiment:

Delta variant continues to rattle markets affecting investor confidence. Asian stocks slipped following a lower U.S. session close from last night. Data from the US also indicated a slowdown, the ISM manufacturing PMI recorded 59.5 vs 60.8 expected.

China started implementing more covid-19 measures weigh on investors’ confidence altogether.

Equities:

Wall Street ended in the mix, with both the Dow and the S&P falling slightly while the Nasdaq gained 0.06%. Sectors like Real Estate were amongst the biggest winners on the S&P.

Currency Market:

The U.S. dollar fell overnight over covid-19 outbreaks globally The USD inched down 0.02% to 92.04.

The USD/JPY also fell by 0.02%, the lowest level since late May 2021.

The GBP/USD inched higher 0.12% to 1.389.

Commodities: Gold

Gold prices dropped this morning in Asia, ahead of Friday’s US Job report that could affect the Feds course in the next policy meeting.

Commodities: Oil

Oil prices took a fine dip overnight as covid-19 measures affect fuel demand outlook but started to track slightly higher this morning, Brent rose 0.32% to $73.15 while WTI stood at $71.46 a barrel.