Covid-19 Daily Dashboard – 22 May 2020
An overview of key economic and financial metrics.
2 minutes to read
Download an overview of key economic and financial metrics relating to Covid-19 on 22 May 2020.
COVID-19 Cases
Many European countries are seeing the rate of COVID-19 cases remain low as they cautiously ease restrictions. In Asia, the case rate for South Korea remains low at +0.1%, while Singapore has seen an increase in COVID-19 cases over the day of +2.0%.
Equities
Global equities were subdued this morning, following an escalation of tension between the US and China. The Hang Seng closed -5.7% lower on Friday, marking the index’s worst one-day performance in circa five years. In Europe, declines were led this morning by the FTSE 100, which fell -1.7%, followed by the FTSE 250 (-1.5%), STOXX 600 (-1.2%) and the DAX (-1.1%). The S&P 500 and DJIA are both -0.8% lower.
VIX
The “investor fear gauge” continues its upwards trajectory. Following an increase of +5.3% yesterday, the index is up +3.1% to 32.0 this morning, indicating further expectations of near-term volatility.
Bonds
Today’s fall in bond yields has been led by the US, with 10-year treasury bond yields down to 0.64%. Both the UK 10-year gilt yield and the German 10-year bund yield have compressed by -1bp to 0.16% and -0.50%, respectively.
US Unemployment
Unemployment applications increased by 2.4 million in the week to May 16th, the lowest increase since the coronavirus crisis began, but marginally above expectations.
UK Finances
Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks increased to 97.7% of GDP in April 2020, compared to 80.3% in April one year ago. This is the largest year on year increase in debt as a percentage of GDP, on record.
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