Covid-19 Daily Dashboard – 19 June 2020

An overview of key economic and financial metrics.
Written By:
William Matthews, Knight Frank
2 minutes to read
Categories: Covid-19

Download an overview of key economic and financial metrics relating to Covid-19 on 19 June 2020.

Equities: In Europe, the STOXX 600 and the DAX are both up +0.5%, while the FTSE 250 has added +0.2%.
In the US, futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are up +0.2% and +0.1%. In Asia,
stocks closed higher, with the CSI 300 increasing by +1.3%, the Hang Seng up +0.8% and the Kospi +0.4%.


VIX: The CBOE market volatility index is currently 33.1, while the Euro Stoxx 50 volatility price index is at 32.3.
Both indices remain elevated, indicating further expectations of near-term volatility.


Bonds: 10-year government bond yields in Germany, the UK and US have all seen increases over the
morning. The UK 10-year gilt yield and German 10-year bund yield have both increased by 3bps to 0.25% and
-0.41%, while the US 10-year treasury yield is up 1bp to 0.72%.


Currency: Sterling and the euro have depreciated to $1.24 and $1.12. Hedging benefits for US dollar
denominated investors into the UK and the eurozone are 0.29% and 1.10% per annum on a five-year basis.


Baltic Dry: The Baltic Dry saw it’s largest ever one day increase in the index yesterday, increasing +22.6% to
1,527. This is 437 points above where it was at the start of the year and was driven by a driven by a 50%
increase in capesize rates on the back of increased demand for iron ore. This indicates improving demand for
raw materials and subsequently manufacturing, as COVID-19 containment measures continue to ease.


UK Quantitative Easing: The Bank of England (BoE) announced it will increase its quantitative easing (QE)
programme by £100 billion. QE totalled £645 billion in March, compared to £435 billion in August 2016 and
£200 billion in November 2009. The BoE held its interest rate at 0.10%.


US Unemployment: Unemployment applications increased by 1.5 million in the week to June 13th , above
expectations of 1.3 million and taking the increase in US jobless claims since 21st March 2020 45.7 million.


UK Borrowing: Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks, (PSND ex) has exceeded UK GDP for
the first time since 1963, rising to 100.9% of GDP at the end of May. Following a revision by the ONS on April
borrowing to £48.5bn (originally £62bn), monthly borrowing for May, reached a record monthly high of £55.2
billion, an amount 9 times higher than the same month one year ago.