The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to leave rates unchanged at 0.10% when it meets later in the day, but reverse the July bond tapering decision due to the lock downs in Sydney and Brisbane caused by the expanding Delta variant.
Adding to the negative sentiment is ongoing investor concern about increasing Chinese official regulation in sectors ranging from technology, fintech and education. "There was some hand-holding from the China Securities Regulatory Commission last week to limit the spread of the contagion and counter the popular thinking of which sector is next. That worked for a few days but then we saw the flows start to reverse again.