Monday’s delta blues are once again talking back-seat in driving markets, the winning streak in the major US stock indices extending to a third day as incoming quarterly earnings reports for the most part continue to beat expectations, the S&P500 closing within 0.4% of last Mondays record high.

Conditions at a record high in Q2.

Consumer stress rising again, but vaccination intentions more positive.

Strong earnings have swept away Delta concerns in the US with 85% of companies reporting so far beating expectations.

The Delta variant continues to spread, vaccination rates have slowed, and case numbers are rising.

Markets have dipped sharply on the back of rising COVID cases.

The Sydney lockdown is now in its fourth week with restrictions tightened further on the weekend. In this Weekly we update our estimates of the impact of these recent lockdowns.

The Aussie dollar is under pressure because of global market uncertainty over COVID says NAB’s Rodrigo Catril on today’s podcast.

COVID-19 remains the most significant risk for our global outlook. While in Australia, the current virus outbreak in NSW and associated lockdowns/border closures highlights the uncertainty around economic forecasting at present.