Australia shares set for worst day in nearly 3 weeks as virus bites

Australian shares fell more than 1% in early trade on Friday and were set for their biggest drop in nearly three weeks, as the country's most populous state battled a growing cluster of the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus.

The S&P/ASX 200 index declined 1.22% to 7,252.1 by 0045 GMT after two straight sessions of gains.

For the week, it was down 0.8%.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei was down 1.52%, while S&P 500 E-minis futures fell 0.13%.

On Thursday, the state of New South Wales reported its biggest daily rise in locally acquired cases of COVID-19 this year, raising fears of a further extension in restrictions.

Australia shares likely to open lower on QE taper, Sydney lockdown

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday said Pfizer would increase COVID-19 vaccine delivery to about one million doses a week from July 19, more than tripling shipments, as Sydney battles its worst outbreak of this year.

Australian shares also tracked a weak finish on Wall Street.

Overnight, all three major US indexes fell as doubts about the pace of recovery in the world's biggest economy drove a broad sell-off.

Tech stocks were the top losers in Australia with a drop of about 2.8% and were set their worst session in more than a week. Buy-now-pay-later company Afterpay lost 3.9%, while artificial intelligence company Appen fell 2%.

Financials fell more than 1% and hit their lowest in over six weeks, with the so called "big four" shedding between 1% and 1.2%.

Mining stocks slipped after two straight sessions of gains as iron ore prices slid on demand worries. Global miners BHP Group and Rio Tinto lost 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.5% to 12,689.7 and was poised to close the week slightly lower.