In Asian Equity Markets stocks advanced to one-week highs on Wednesday, led largely by strong U.S. corporate earnings, although the mood remained cautious as the rapidly spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus clouds the global economic outlook. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 0.1 percent to the highest since July 26. Japan’s Nikkei was in the red as were Chinese shares with the blue-chip index off 0.2 percent. Australian stocks were a touch firmer but sentiment was marred by an unabating rise in Delta infections in Sydney, the country’s biggest city.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar eased against the Japanese yen and Swiss franc on Wednesday as questions about slowing U.S. economic growth and the Delta variant challenged risk appetite. The dollar was near a two-month trough against the yen at 108.95. Against the Swiss Franc, the dollar hovered near its lowest since mid-June at $0.9038. The New Zealand dollar bolted higher after super-strong jobs data cemented expectations for a hike in interest rates this month. The kiwi swung up to $0.7046, a gain of 1 percent for the week so far. The risk sensitive Australian dollar was relatively upbeat at $0.7396.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 index closed at record high on Tuesday on gains in Apple and healthcare stocks, despite concerns over a rise in the Delta variant of the coronavirus taking some shine off an upbeat corporate earnings season. The Dow rose 0.8 percent, to 35,116.4, the S&P 500 gained 0.82 percent, to 4,423.15 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.55 percent, to 14,761.30. Under Armour Inc and Ralph Lauren Corp rose 6.19 percent and 6.13 percent respectively after raising their annual revenue forecasts. Apple Inc rose 1.26 percent after sliding last week.

In Commodities Markets oil settled lower in volatile trade on Tuesday as concern about rising cases of the Delta coronavirus variant outweighed expectations for another weekly draw in U.S. inventories that had boosted prices early in the session. Brent crude oil futures settled down 0.66 percent, at $72.41 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled down 0.98 percent, at $70.56 a barrel. Spot gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,809.79 per ounce. Silver gained 0.3 percent to $25.52 an ounce, platinum fell 0.7 percent to $1,049.28 and palladium lost 0.9 percent to $2,652.38.

In European Equity Markets strong earnings updates from heavyweights including BP and Societe Generale drove European stocks to a record-high close on Tuesday, although gains were capped by concerns over rising Delta variant cases and China’s regulatory moves. After falling into negative territory earlier, the region-wide STOXX 600 index ended up 0.2 percent at a record closing high of 465.38 points. Oil & gas stocks were the top gainers as BP rose 5.6 percent after it lifted its dividend and ramped up share buybacks on the back of a surge in quarterly profit.

In Bond Markets traders left U.S. Treasury yields little changed on Tuesday as they awaited economic data, reinforcing a divergence between bond and equity price trends. Even as stock markets have been fired up by strong corporate earnings, the benchmark 10-year yield sagged below 1.2 percent on Monday and was at 1.1722 percent on Tuesday afternoon, unchanged for the session. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was roughly unchanged at 0.1722 percent.