Global shares hover near record highs as rising COVID cases and a slew of economic data leaves investors cautious

Global shares hover near record highs as rising COVID cases and a slew of economic data leaves investors cautious

Global shares were mixed on Monday, with economically sensitive sectors such as energy and banking under pressure, while more defensive parts of the market such as healthcare rose, as as COVID-19 cases linked to the delta variant continued to rise and bring renewed lockdowns. Key data on US consumer inflation and regional manufacturing activity along with Chinese economic growth could provide a steer on how much the resurgence of COVID-19 is impacting the global recovery. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will also deliver his semi-annual testimony on the state of the economy to Congress this week, while the European Central Bank will revise its current monetary policies, which investors are expecting will provide them with guidance on growth and inflation in the eurozone. US futures were a mixed bag, as dipped by 0.29% and were down 0.19%, while were up by 0.11% at 04:30 am E.T. on Monday. "In the US, CPI data tomorrow will tell us whether we did indeed see the peak in inflation in May - our economists think we did, forecasting a slowdown in headline CPI from 5.0% to 4.8% in June, potentially putting a cap on Fed rate expectations for now." ING analysts said. The