ECONOMICS

Daily Economics Dashboard - 8 April 2021

An overview of key economic and financial metrics.
Written By:
William Matthews, Knight Frank
2 minutes to read
Categories: Property Sector Offices service Consultancy Topic Covid-19 Economics Forecast World Regions UK London


Download an overview of key economic and financial metrics on 8 April 2021.

  • Equities: Globally, stocks are mostly higher. In Europe, gains have been recorded by the CAC 40 (+0.4%), STOXX 600 (+0.3%) and the DAX (+0.1%), while the FTSE 250 is flat over the morning. In Asia, the Hang Seng (+1.2%), S&P / ASX 200 (+1.0%), KOSPI and CSI 300 (both +0.2%) all closed higher. The TOPIX was the exception, closing -0.8% down. In the US, futures for the S&P 500 are up +0.3%.
  • VIX: After declining -5% over Wednesday, the CBOE market volatility index is down a further -0.9% this morning to 17.0, below its long term average of 19.9. The Euro Stoxx 50 volatility index is also lower, down -2.3% to 16.3, remaining comfortably below its long term average of 23.9. Both the CBOE and Euro Stoxx 50 vix are at their lowest levels since January 2020.
  • Bonds: The UK 10-year gilt yield has softened +1bp to 0.79%, while the US 10-year treasury yield compressed -2bps to 1.66% and the German 10-year bund yield is down -1bp to -0.33%.
  • Currency: Sterling has depreciated to $1.37, while the euro is currently $1.19. Currency hedging benefits for US dollar denominated investors into the UK and Eurozone are 0.58% and 1.77% on a five year basis.
  • Oil: Brent Crude and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) are down -0.4% and -0.7% to $62.89 and $59.38, respectively. The latest Baker Hughes rig count found there were 430 active oil rigs in the US as at 1st April 2021, compared to 413 one month ago and 664 last year. Internationally, the number of active oil rigs in March stood at 715, compared to 701 one month prior and 1,059 in March 2020.
  • Baltic Dry: The Baltic Dry increased for the second consecutive session on Wednesday, up +1.7% to 2,127 its highest level in over a week. While this is -8% below the March peak of 2,319, it remains +56% higher than the start of the year. Prices have been pushed higher by the capesize index which increased +7.2% yesterday.
  • US Trade Deficit: The US trade deficit widened $3.3 billion to a record high of $71.1 billion in February. The imbalance increased as total trade activity declined -1.5%, with imported goods (-2.0%) contracting less than exported goods (-5.3%), which recorded its second month of decline.