Covid-19 Daily Dashboard - 21 October 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 21 October 2020.
England Lockdown: Greater Manchester will move into Tier 3 ‘ very high’ restrictions from Friday and South Yorkshire will be placed into Tier 3 from Saturday. Under Tier 3, the mixing of households is restricted and bars and pubs not serving substantial food will shut. Additional localised restrictions will also be implemented.
Equities: In Europe, stocks are down this morning, with the CAC 40 -1.0%, while both the FTSE 250 and the STOXX 600 are -0.8% and the DAX is -0.7% lower. In Asia stocks were mostly higher, with the Hang Seng (+0.8%), Topix (+0.7%), Kospi (+0.5%) and the S&P / ASX 200 (+0.1%) all up on close. Meanwhile, the CSI 300 closed flat. In the US, futures for the S&P 500 are up +0.1%.
VIX: The CBOE market volatility index has increased +2.6% to 30.1, the highest it has been since the beginning of September. The Euro Stoxx 50 volatility index has also increased, up +4.3% to 28.8. Both indices are elevated compared to their long term averages of 19.9 and 23.9.
Bonds: The UK 10-year gilt yield and the US 10-year treasury yield have softened +3bps to 0.22% and 0.81%. The German 10-year bund yield is also up +1bp to -0.59%.
Currency: Sterling has appreciated to $1.31, while the euro is currently $1.18. Hedging benefits for US dollar denominated investors into the UK and the eurozone are at 0.43% and 1.25% per annum on a five-year basis.
Oil: Brent Crude and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) are down -1.3% and -0.9% over the morning to $42.58 and $41.09.
Baltic Dry: The Baltic Dry decreased for the 10th consecutive session yesterday, declining -4.2% to 1,350, its lowest level since 21st September. The index has seen -36% cumulative declines over the previous 11 sessions and is now -31% lower than the peak seen in July. The decline has been predominantly driven by the capsize index which has also contracted over the last 10 sessions, down -7.0% yesterday.
Gold: The price of gold increased +0.3% yesterday to $1,910 per troy ounce. Gold is +25% higher than it was at the start of January, however it remains -7% lower than its record high of $2,063 in August.