Hipkins said Delta's highly transmissible nature was making this outbreak more difficult to contain than others, raising "big questions" about the elimination strategy
Bond market focus is on data out of the United States, with a Reuters poll expecting retail sales to have fallen 0.2% month-on-month in July from a 0.6% increase in June
Brent crude was down 80 cents, or 1.1pc, at $69.79 a barrel by 1:10 p.m. EDT (1710 GMT) after falling to $68.14 earlier in the sessions. U.S. oil fell by 87 cents, or 1.3pc, to $67.57 after reaching lows of $65.73.
Spot gold fell 0.1% to $1,776.78 per ounce by 0342 GMT, having earlier hit its highest since Aug. 6 at $1,782.40. US gold futures were flat at $1,778.50
The world's second-largest economy staged a rapid recovery from last year's coronavirus outbreak, beating back the virus with mass testing and strict lockdowns