The spread of the highly-contagious Delta variant continued to weigh on risk assets Monday with Asian markets in the crosshairs as the region struggles with worsening outbreaks amid a slow vaccine rollout. The regional stock benchmark dropped as much as 1.4% with bourses in Southeast Asia leading declines. The main Philippine gauge fell the most since March after the country reported its first local cases of the variant on Friday, while Vietnam’s VN Index is on track to fall into a technical correction on fresh restrictions. “Risk sentiment toward Asian asset markets remain poor, due to the worsening Covid-19 situation particularly in Southeast Asia,” said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research in Singapore at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. “Tighter restrictions being imposed to curb infections will hold back the economic recovery, and we will likely be seeing downward revisions to 2021 GDP growth for some economies.” […]