Asia equities begin the session sideways, following on from choppy price action on Wall Street, with the sustained absence of Japanese participants and rising COVID-19 infections on the radar. Australia’s New South Wales reports 136 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases, and the State Premier said it would not lift Sydney restriction on July 30th. That situation for some parts of the city is considered a national emergency. The new wave of quarantine is causing market participants to price a lower-than-expected growth for the second half of this year. It could keep weighing on the metals and mining stocks and commodities.
On the macro front, the US data saw jobless claims and existing home sales miss expectations. The global risk complex traded mixed as US Treasuries became volatile ahead of next week’s FOMC decision, US infrastructure bill decision, US debt ceiling deadline and month-end. Today’s session could trade soft without a significant macro calendar on the radar, and Japanese markets are closed for the Sports Day holiday.
