Your daily market update from Knight Frank Research, Friday 17th April
Good morning,
2 minutes to read
Economic headlines
Asian shares and both European and US futures (effectively bets on the future trajectory of these markets) climbed overnight after a coronavirus drug test showed positive results in a clinical trial and President Trump said the US had “passed the peak” of Covid-19 cases, indicating he would soon take steps to ease the lockdown.
During a clinical trial at the University of Chicago Medicine, a Gilead drug showed rapid recoveries in almost all of over a hundred severely ill patients, giving hope that a treatment could ease the pandemic and open up the global economy.
Officials this morning said the Chinese economy shrank 6.8% in the first three months of the year, ending nearly half a century of growth.
oreign Secretary Dominic Raab yesterday extended Britain's lockdown until at least 7th May as he outlined five tests that must be met before restrictions are lifted. These include: ensuring that the NHS can cope across Britain; a sustained and consistent fall in the daily death rate; evidence that the rate of infection is decreasing to “manageable levels”; enough testing and protective equipment to meet demand; and no risk of a second peak large enough to overwhelm the NHS.
Children in Denmark began returning to school on Wednesday. Germany will start opening its schools early next month, while Norway’s kindergartens will open on Monday and parts of its primary schools a week later.
Property market headlines
This morning, Chris Druce suggests the Covid-19 pandemic is likely to alter well-established seasonal patterns of buying and renting in the UK residential market, with the annual July peak pushed back.
This week the International Monetary Fund released their updated World Economic Outlook which points to a global contraction of 3% in 2020 with a rebound of 5.8% growth in 2021. Flora Harley brings together data from across the world to better understand the best and worst case scenarios across 20 major countries and consider their impact on housing markets.
Meanwhile Nick Holt provides this outlook for real estate owners, developers and investors across Asia. Nick's picks include sectors more resilient to the coronavirus, such as logistics, healthcare, and data centres, or targeting repriced assets that could rebound in 2021.
Anna Ward checks in on moves to change underused shops into homes, a trend that could accelerate as a result of the pandemic.
Stepping back
Throughout this week, we have been exploring longer-term themes from our recently launched flagship reports, all of which shine a light on problems and solutions brought about by the Covid-19 crisis.
Our final piece digs deeper into how the current lockdown will impact the world of work. Lee Elliot, the editor of (Y)OUR SPACE, explores how occupiers balance their spend on workspace alongside current economic pressures. Lee also looks at new technologies as drivers of demand, and why the services and experiences offered by the workplace will be a draw for talent post-crisis.
If you have any questions, please contact me, or the team.