COVID Delta upsurge keeps stock and commodity bulls in check

COVID Delta upsurge keeps stock and commodity bulls in check

LONDON - An upsurge in new infections caused by the Delta coronavirus variant capped equity and commodity price gains on Monday, with Wall Street tipped to open lower and bond yields holding just above multi-week lows. Markets are also jittery at the start of an eventful week that will see the U.S. second-quarter earnings season kick off, the release of inflation data in several countries, and testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell which will be scrutinised for any talk of tapering. MSCI's all-country equity index closed last week in the red but rose 0.2% on Monday, lifted by hefty gains across Asia where markets tracked Friday's record close on U.S. stocks. Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.7% while Japan's Nikkei bounced 2.2%. Chinese blue chips rose 1.1%. But worries over the outlook were highlighted by warning from the finance ministers of the world's 20 largest economies that recent improvements in the global economy could be derailed by fast-spreading COVID-19 variants such as Delta. A Reuters tally of new COVID-19 infections shows them rising in 69 countries, with the daily rate at 478,000. The variant is responsible for record rises in infections in Australia where another lockdown looks imminent. South