ECONOMICS

Daily Economics Dashboard - 14 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 World Regions UK London


Download an overview of key economic and financial metrics on 14 April 2021.

  • Equities: Globally, stocks are mostly higher. In Europe, gains have been recorded by the CAC 40 (+0.4%), STOXX 600 (+0.2%) and DAX (+0.1%). Meanwhile the FTSE 250 is flat over the morning. In Asia, the Hang Seng (+1.4%), CSI 300 (+0.8%), S&P / ASX 200 (+0.7%) and KOSPI (+0.4%) all closed higher. The TOPIX was the exception, down -0.3% on close. In the US, futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are both +0.1%.
  • VIX: After declining -2% over Tuesday, the CBOE market volatility index has slightly increased this morning, up +0.2% to 16.7, remaining below its long term average of 19.9. Meanwhile, the Euro Stoxx 50 volatility index is lower, down -2.0% to 16.0, its lowest reading since December 2019 and comfortably below its long term average of 23.9.
  • Bonds: The US 10-year treasury yield has softened +2bps to 1.64%, while the German 10-year bund yield has compressed -1bp to -0.30% and the UK 10-year gilt yield has held steady at 0.78%.
  • Currency: The euro has appreciated to $1.20 and sterling is currently $1.38. Currency hedging benefits for US dollar denominated investors into the UK and Eurozone are at 0.54% and 1.70% on a five year basis.
  • Oil: Brent Crude and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) have increased +1.6% and +1.7% this morning to $64.68 and $61.20, respectively. Both Brent Crude and the WTI are at their highest levels since March.
  • Baltic Dry: The Baltic Dry decreased -0.2% on Tuesday to 2140, its first daily decline this week. The index remains -8% below the March peak of 2,319, albeit it is currently +57% above where it was at the start of the year. Prices were driven down largely by panamax rates, which declined -1.6% yesterday to a more than two month low.
  • European Debt: European direct lending deals, where funds make loans that would traditionally be made or arranged by a bank, had their strongest Q4 on record in 2020, according to Deloitte. The number of direct deals totalled 155 in Q4 2020, a +2% increase on Q4 2019. Over H2 2020, there were 232 European direct lending deals, a +52% increase on H1 2020, albeit a -25% decline when compared to H2 2019. The UK recorded a -3% decline in the number of lending deals in H2 2020 versus H2 2019, whereas Germany recorded an -18% contraction and France a -57% drop.