Asian markets extend global rally as earnings trump virus wo… – MENAFN.COM

Asian markets extend global rally as earnings trump virus wo… – MENAFN.COM

Asian markets rallied Thursday as worries about the Delta variant were overshadowed by more strong earnings reports that indicated companies were faring well as the global economy emerges from last year's pandemic-induced collapse. After a painful start to the week, investors were back in the saddle after Wall Street and Europe enjoyed back-to-back rallies thanks to optimism about the outlook, and despite surging infections that have forced some governments to reimpose lockdowns or other containment measures. Confidence in the long-term recovery has been fortified by data showing that while even fully vaccinated people have become infected with the new strain of Covid -- such as in the United States and Britain -- hospitalisation and death rates among those people have remained relatively low, suggesting the drugs are working. "The base case in the US is that the rise in Delta infections will not see restrictions tightened and although vaccination rates differ by state, 79. 5 percent of the over-65s population is now fully vaccinated," said National Australia Bank's Tapas Strickland. He added that while Delta concerns remained, "the consensus is that it does not pose an immediate risk to the recovery. At most, given effective vaccines, Delta pushes out the