Covid-19 Daily Dashboard – 16 June 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 16 June 2020.
COVID-19 Cases: One week after surpassing 7 million global COVID-19 cases, yesterday, the total reached 8 million. In Beijing, 27 new cases have been identified, linked to a wholesale market. This comes as New Zealand confirmed two new cases, ending the country’s 24-day streak with no new coronavirus infections.
Equities: Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average currently indicate increases of +1.2% and +1.6%, respectively. In Europe, the STOXX 600 is up +2.1%, while the FTSE 250 has added +2.5% over the morning. In Asia, the Topix closed +4.1% higher and the Hang Seng +2.7%. In South Korea, trading was briefly suspended after futures for the Kospi 200 rose more than +5% from the previous day’s close.
VIX: After declining by -4.7% yesterday to 34.4, the “investor fear gauge”, the CBOE market volatility index is currently 34.0. The index remains elevated, indicating further expectations of near-term volatility.
Bonds: The UK 10-year gilt yield, US 10-year treasury yield and German 10-year bund yield are currently 0.22%, 0.73% and -0.43%.
Currency: Sterling has appreciated slightly to $1.26, while the euro remains at $1.13. Hedging benefits for US dollar investors into the UK and the eurozone have increased to 0.29% and 1.12% per annum on a five-year basis, respectively.
Baltic Dry: The Baltic Dry Index increased for its 11th consecutive session yesterday, up +5.4% to 973. The index is closer to paring back its losses from the beginning of the year, where it was 1,090 on January 1st.
Oil: Brent Crude is currently up +0.6% to just below $40 a barrel at $39.94, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) has appreciated +1.3% to $37.60 per barrel.
UK Employment: Supported by the furlough scheme, UK unemployment remained at 3.9% for the three-months to April 2020. However, weekly hours worked between February and April 2020 saw the largest annual decrease on record, falling by -8.9% compared to the same period in 2019. The period from March to May 2020 saw the largest fall in vacancies since 2001, declining by circa -60% to 476,000, last seen in H1 2012.
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