Global financial markets are under pressure amid rising cases of Delta variant in China

The US Republican Party released an investigation which states that all possible evidence they have collected points to a SARS-CoV-2 type coronavirus due to a leak. There is growing public confidence that the US should punish China for failing to warn the international community about the virus outbreak quickly and does not want to cooperate with the investigation.

Oil prices fell more than 2.5% on Monday. Fears about the rapid spread of the Delta strain in Asian countries, including China, are still growing in the oil market and are likely to slow the global economic recovery and weaken global demand for raw materials. Many analysts think China’s weak business activity statistics in the manufacturing sector result from the Delta’s spreading.

The situation in the precious metals market remains unchanged. Recently, gold shows very weak dynamics and has been flat most of the time. Analysts expect the dollar index to rise in the coming days, which may cause a temporary decline in the price of gold and silver.

Asian stock indices are falling amid a rise of Delta strain in Asian countries, especially in China, which has restrained the spread of the virus for a long time. Investors have realized that China’s economy is not invulnerable. In China, many factories and logistics firms are closing, hotels are also closing, and mass testing measures are rolled out. The Reserve Bank of Australia kept its interest rate unchanged and also left its quantitative easing program unchanged, despite the growing economic threat posed by restrictions to fight the pandemic coronavirus. RBA Governor Philip Lowe says that the economic outlook for the coming months is uncertain and depends on the development of the disease situation. Economists expect GDP to fall in September because of the impact of the restrictions.