BEIJING, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Growth in China's services sector accelerated in July, a private survey showed on Wednesday, although the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant across the country threatens to undercut the recovery in the world's second-biggest economy.
Aug 3 (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Li Auto Inc (L87Ay.F), said on Tuesday it was looking to raise as much as HK$15.0 billion ($1.93 billion) in an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong.
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian stocks slipped on Tuesday, as the Delta coronavirus variant spread in key markets in the region and put Chinese authorities on high alert, rattling investor confidence.
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia is expected to report this week an economic growth of more than 6% in the second quarter, but a new wave of COVID-19 cases, which started to hit in June, is clouding the outlook for subsequent quarters, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.
SINGAPORE, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Crude oil prices reversed course after an early bounce on Tuesday, as concerns over coronavirus curbs combined with slowing factory activity in key markets weighed on sentiment.
Brent crude oil futures shed 5 cents, or 0.1%, to $72.84 a barrel, as of 0309 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 8 cents, or 0.1%, at $71.18 a barrel.
Both markets dropped more than 3% on Monday.
ANZ analysts in a note highlighted resurgent economic risks to major oil consumer China from the coronavirus pandemic. "Cases of the highly contagious Delta variant have emerged in 14 of 32 provinces. This could see further mobility restrictions introduced," ANZ analysts wrote.
They also flagged slowing manufacturing activity as a key concern, to both China and the United States.
"China's economic activity continued to ease in July, with the official Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index falling to 50.4 from 50.9 in June," ANZ said.
"Manufacturing activity also slowed in the U.S., with the ISM index falling to 59.5" - the lowest reading since January - from 60.6 in June. read more
Meanwhile, Iran will respond promptly to any threat against its security, the foreign ministry said on Monday, after the United States, Israel and Britain blamed Tehran for an attack on an Israeli-managed tanker off the coast of Oman. L1N2P90M5
- U.S. oil prices reverse course after early rebound
- Coronvairus curbs, slowing factory activity weigh
Source Reuters
TOKYO (Reuters) - The dollar was on the back foot against the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc on Tuesday after soft U.S. manufacturing data and rising concerns about the coronavirus Delta variant prompted traders to wind back bets on a strong economic recovery.