Stocks Mixed As Worries About Delta Variant Of COVID-19 Put Pressure On Global Markets

Virus Is Back Into Spotlight

S&P 500 futures are swinging between gains and losses in premarket trading as traders turn their attention to the latest coronavirus news.

The Delta variant of COVID-19 has already forced some countries to reintroduce virus-related measures. For example, most of Australia is under a lockdown which was imposed to deal with the new variant of the virus.

The situation in the UK is very concerning since UK has one of the most successful mass vaccination programs in the world but still suffers from a new wave of the virus. Back in May, the number of daily coronavirus cases was close to 2,000. Yesterday, UK reported almost 23,000 new coronavirus cases.

WTI Oil Rebounds Back Above The $73 Level Despite Virus Worries

WTI oil has recently found itself under some pressure as oil traders were worried that the surge in new coronavirus cases in some countries might put pressure on demand for oil.

However, oil quickly managed to find buyers after the pullback as many traders remained focused on the reflation trade. OPEC+ will meet to discuss its production plans at the beginning of July, and traders expect that it will continue to provide support to the market, so any production increase will be gradual and modest.

Many oil-related stocks suffered a pullback during yesterday‘s trading session, but oil’s current upside move will likely provide significant support to them at the beginning of todays trading session.

U.S. Dollar Moves Higher Ahead Of The Release Of U.S. Employment Reports

Tomorrow, U.S will release ADP Employment Change report, which will be followed by Initial Jobless Claims report on Thursday and Non Farm Payrolls report on Friday.

The U.S. dollar is moving higher against a broad basket of currencies ahead of the release of these reports as foreign exchange market traders bet that the reports will show a healthy job market.

Not surprisingly, stronger dollar has already put material pressure on gold and silver which are trading close to multi-week lows.