A week after easing covid outbreaks-induced restrictions, Shanghai city is once again battling the virus resurgence with many areas back under lockdown.

Shanghai will lock down eight city districts this weekend to mass test millions of people as COVID-19 cases continue to emerge.

The restrictions will apply to roughly 15.3 million residents of Pudong, Huangpu, Jing’an, Xuhui, Hongkou, Baoshan, Yangpu and Minhang districts of Shanghai during the testing.

Meanwhile, Christophe Lauras, president of the French Chamber of Commerce in China, "the business climate is not positive because despite the fact that the cities opened, there is still the problem of the zero-COVID policy. That is to say that every morning people don't know if they’ll be locked down." 

Market reaction

Markets are licking their wounds after Thursday’s broad sell-off although the S&P 500 futures are adding 0.09% on the day. AUD/USD is treading water around 0.7100, awaiting the US inflation release for a fresh direction.