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Gold rose to around $1,790 an ounce, extending gains for the fifth day in a row and lingering near a week high, amid a flight to safety as investors remain concerned about the rapid spread of the coronavirus delta strain. Traders were particularly wary after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan's capital. Source: Trading Economics  

On the threat of demand from the delta coronavirus strain, oil fell for a fourth day, aiming for its longest losing streak since March. Brent fell 0.5% after dropping almost 3% in the previous three days. For the third week in a row, gasoline consumption in the U.S. decreased. Source: Bloomberg

Among companies with very small market caps that jumped the most, the share prices of ASX-listed Variscan Mines Ltd., TSX Venture Exchange-listed Sego Resources Inc. and ASX-listed Great Boulder Resources Ltd. climbed 224.3%, 166.7% and 160.9%, respectively. Great Boulder Resources' share price surged after it announced assays from the Whiteheads gold project in Western Australia in late April. Great Boulder hit shallow gold mineralization over a few hundred meters of strike length at the Blue Poles zone, with better intercepts including 40 meters grading 1.18 g/t gold and 36 meters grading 1.09 g/t gold. Source: S&P Global

BHP's oil and gas unit could be worth $13B while Woodside has a market value of $15B. BHP is considering this merger as an effort to revamp its oil and gas unit especially as they face mounting pressure to reduce their exposure to fossil fuels and align with the goals set by the Paris agreements. If Woodside and BHP were to merge, they would suddenly become a major player in the liquified natural gas space. Source: Financial Times

Caution returned to global markets after data Friday showed U.S. consumer sentiment fell in early August to the lowest in nearly a decade as Americans grew more concerned about the economy’s prospects, inflation and the recent surge in Covid-19 cases. New variants like delta are moving the bar for herd immunity to near impossibly high levels, while countries are also grappling with vaccine hesitancy and supply issues. Bullion has clawed back some ground after better-than-expected U.S. data sent prices tumbling on bets the Federal Reserve may start paring back massive monetary stimulus soon. Source: Bloomberg