Covid-19 Daily Dashboard – 3 August 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 3 August 2020.

COVID-19: The total number of recorded cases globally has now surpassed 18 million, up by one million in four days, according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. There have been 690k reported deaths.


Equities: In Europe, the STOXX 600 is up (+0.3%), as is the DAX (+1.0%) and the CAC 40 (+0.2%). However, the FTSE 250 is down by -0.4%. In the US, futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down -0.1% and -0.3%. In Asia, the Topix (+1.8%), CSI 300 (+1.6%) and Kospi (+0.1%) all closed up, while the Hang Seng was down (-0.6%) and the S&P / ASX 200 remained flat.


VIX: The CBOE market volatility index and the Euro Stoxx50 volatility price index are up over the morning by +0.9% and +0.8% to 27.1 and 26.9, respectively. Both indices remain above their long term averages, indicating further expectations of near-term volatility.


Bonds: The UK 10-year gilt yield declined to its lowest level on record on Friday, falling to 0.07% and breaching the previous March low. However, the yield has since increased and currently sits at 0.10%. The US 10-year treasury yield and the German 10-year bund yield have also both softened by +1bp to 0.54% and -0.53%. The Italian 10-year bond yield is currently 1.11%, +7.8% on the 1.03% prior week low.


Currency: The euro has slightly depreciated to $1.18, while sterling remains at $1.31. Hedging benefits for US dollar denominated investors into the UK and the eurozone are 0.29% and 1.06% per annum on a five-year basis.


Baltic Dry: The Baltic Dry index increased for the third consecutive session on Friday, up +0.1% to 1,350. The index is 24% above where it was in January, albeit, it is -31% lower than recent highs of 1,956 in early July.


Oil: Brent Crude and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) are both down -0.5% over the morning to $43.07 per barrel and $40.05 per barrel, respectively.


Gold: The price of gold appreciated by +1% on Friday, to a record high of $1,975 per troy ounce. This price is +29% higher than it was in January.