ECONOMICS

Daily Economics Dashboard - 16 April 2021

An overview of key economic and financial metrics.
Written By:
William Matthews, Knight Frank
2 minutes to read
Categories: Property Sector Offices service Consultancy Topic Covid-19 Economics World Regions UK London


Download an overview of key economic and financial metrics on 16 April 2021.

  • Equities: Globally, stocks are mostly higher. In Europe, gains have been recorded by the DAX (+0.8%), STOXX 600 (+0.4%), FTSE 250 and CAC 40 (both +0.3%) over the morning. In Asia, the Hang Seng (+0.8%), CSI 300 (+0.3%), S&P / ASX 200, KOSPI and TOPIX (all +0.1%) all closed higher. However, in the US, futures for the S&P 500 are down -0.1%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are flat.
  • VIX: After decreasing -2% over Thursday, the CBOE market volatility index has since increased this morning, up +0.5% to 16.6, remaining below its long term average of 19.9. The Euro Stoxx 50 volatility index has also increased, up +0.6% to 15.8, comfortably below its long term average of 23.9.
  • Bonds: The UK 10-year gilt yield and German 10-year bund yield have softened +3bps to 0.77% and -0.27%, respectively, while the US 10-year treasury yield is up +1bp to 1.58%.
  • Currency: Sterling and the euro are currently $1.38 and $1.20, respectively. Currency hedging benefits for US dollar denominated investors into the UK and Eurozone are at 0.54% and 1.64% on a five year basis.
  • Oil: Brent Crude and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) have increased +0.3% and +0.2% this morning to $67.15 and $63.59, respectively, their highest levels in a month.
  • Baltic Dry: The Baltic Dry increased for the second consecutive session on Thursday, up +6.7% to 2323, its strongest level since September 2019 and its largest daily increase in two months. Prices were pushed higher by panamax and capesize rates which increased +10.8% and +7.4% yesterday, respectively. The index is now +70% above where it was in January and has surpassed 2021’s previous peak of 2,319 recorded in March.
  • US Unemployment: There were 576k new unemployment applications in the week to 10th April, below market expectations of 700k and lower than 769k in the week prior. This is the lowest level of jobless claims since March 2020, before the implications of COVID-19.