Covid-19 Daily Dashboard – 28 May 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 28 May 2020.

Lockdown: Measures continue to cautiously ease across Europe. However, in South Korea, Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan areas are to face two weeks of strengthened quarantine measures, following a spike in COVID-19 cases. 

Equities: Global equities have continued to rise this morning. Increases were led by the FTSE 250 and Europe’s STOXX 600, which both added +1.0%, followed by Frankfurt’s DAX (+0.9%) and the FTSE 100 (+0.7%). DJIA and S&P 500 futures are also up +0.6% and +0.3%, respectively. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index bucked the trend, moderating by -0.8%.  

VIX: The “investor fear gauge” has remained under 30 for the third consecutive day, albeit is currently up 0.9% this morning at 29.3. This remains elevated, indicating further expectations of near-term volatility.

Baltic Dry: Yesterday saw the Baltic Dry Index decline for the first time in nine sessions, moderating by -0.8% to 502.

Bonds: The UK 10-year government bond yield is currently 0.20%, while the US 10-year treasury yield is 0.68%. The German 10-year bund yield is -0.42%, while the yield gap with Italian 10-year bond is at its lowest since 9th April, at 191bps.

Currency: Sterling and the euro remain at $1.23 and $1.10, respectively. Hedging benefits for US dollar denominated investors into the UK have increased slightly to circa 0.28% per annum on a five-year basis. 

Oil: Oil prices have fallen further this morning, however they remain above $30 a barrel. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined by -1.0% to $32.48 a barrel, while Brent Crude was down -2.6% to $33.84 a barrel.

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