Asia equities started the session as the region inherits the defensive mood from global peers amid COVID-19 Delta variant worries and catching the drop in oil prices due to virus concerns and OPEC+ deal. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics will go ahead with no spectators while several athletes have tested positive for the virus. The OPEP+ came to an agreement that sees total group production increase by 400k BPD every month from August, with the arrangement also extended to the end of 2022 from April 2022.
During the US session, a defensive play drove equities lower. The dollar caught a bid from the safe-haven demand, which counteracts the fall in the Treasury yields, 10-year falling, which also supported rate sensitive currencies like Yen and Suisse Franc. On the trade front, the US is not ruling out taking action unilaterally on China hacking but understands working together is the better approach. The US State Department repeated the White House stance and reckoned that the US is not ruling out any actions to hold China accountable, including malicious cyber activity.
