Coronavirus update: Delta variant sparks Aussie political jitters, tests Southern Europe’s tourism

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Delta variant probes the market’s risk appetite during early Wednesday. While Asia-Pacific becomes the major hit area, concerns over the UK’s higher death toll and pessimism over the European Union’s (EU) tourism sector also gain the market’s attention.

In Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison faces criticism of state leaders amid rejection of AstraZeneca usage for under the 40s even when the country is witnessing +100 covid infections a day of late. The recent fears of the virus strain relate to the community transmission in New South Wales (NSW). However, the latest “zero cases” from Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Western Australia (WA) tames the pessimism amid political drama and sustained lockdown of over 80% of the Aussie population.

On the other hand, Germany reports a bit of relief with infections easing to 808 and 56 deaths. Further, the UK also marked 20,479 new COVID-19 cases versus 22,868 a day earlier on Tuesday while covid-led deaths rose from 3 to 23 during the stated period.

Although the UK has already pushed back the unlock to July 19, the European Union’s (EU) concerns over British travelers to the bloc raise challenges for the region’s economies that rely on tourism, mainly in the South. In this regard, the Financial Times (FT) quoted the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) updates while saying, “Inbound tourism accounted for 10 percent of the gross domestic product in Portugal and Greece and almost 6 percent in Spain in the year before the pandemic.”

Elsewhere, India registers a mild increase in the total infections whereas numbers from Indonesia follow the suit as the nations struggle to inoculate at a faster pace.

FX reactions…

Despite covid woes, S&P 500 Futures gain 0.13%, near record top, whereas the US dollar index (DXY) struggle around weekly high. It’s worth noting that the mixed Fedspeak and pre-ADP caution recently restrict market moves.

Read: S&P 500 Futures defend bulls despite coronavirus concerns