Covid-19 Daily Dashboard – 11 August 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 11 August 2020.
Equities: In Europe, the CAC 40 is +2.7% over the morning, the DAX +2.5%, STOXX 600 +2.0% and the FTSE 250 +1.5%. In the US, futures for the S&P 500 are up +0.7%. In Asia, the Hang Seng (+2.1%), Kospi (+1.4%) and the S&P / ASX 200 (+0.5%) all closed higher, while the CSI 300 was -0.9% down.
VIX: The CBOE market volatility index and the Euro Stoxx 50 volatility price index have decreased -3.7% and -5.7% over the morning, to 22.9 and 22.7. Over the month, the European ‘investor fear gauge’ has contracted -16.2% to below the long term average of 23.9. The US VIX has also declined significantly (-28.1%) over the month but remains above the long term average of 19.8, indicating further expectations of near-term volatility.
Bonds: The UK 10-year gilt yield has softened +3bps to 0.16%, while both the US 10-year treasury yield and the German 10-year bund yield are up +1bp to 0.59% and -0.51%.
Currency: Sterling and the euro remain steady at $1.31 and $1.18, respectively. Hedging benefits for US dollar denominated investors into the UK and the eurozone are 0.28% and 1.09% per annum on a five-year basis.
Baltic Dry: The Baltic Dry index gained a further +0.3% yesterday, lifting the index to 1,506. This brings the cumulative gains over the last nine trading sessions to +19%.
Oil: Brent Crude and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) are up +0.9% and +1.2% over the morning, to $45.38 per barrel and $42.45 per barrel. Both Brent Crude and the WTI are the highest they have been since early March.
UK Employment: Early indicators for July outline that the number of employees in the UK on payrolls declined by 730,000 or -2.5% compared to March 2020, according to the ONS. The decrease in employment in the three months to July was the largest quarterly decline since May to July 2009. However, unemployment held steady at 3.9% in Q2 2020, below market expectations of 4.2%. Circa 7.5 million people were furloughed in June, with over 3 million of these away from work for three months or more. Vacancies in May to July are 10% higher than the record low in the three months to June 2020, largely driven by smaller businesses.