Covid-19 Daily Dashboard – 13 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 13 August 2020.

COVID-19: The total number of recorded cases globally is circa 20.6 million according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. There have been 750k reported deaths. Combined, Brazil, India and the US account for 52% of all confirmed cases.


Equities: In Europe, the STOXX 600 is -0.2% over the morning, the DAX and CAC 40 are both -0.1% and the FTSE 250 -0.3%. In the US, futures for the S&P 500 are flat this morning, after the index closed at its highest level since February, with year to date gains of +5%. In Asia, the Hang Seng (-0.1%), CSI 300 (-0.3%) and the S&P / ASX 200 (-0.7%) closed lower, while the Topix (+1.2%) and Kospi (+0.2%) closed higher.


VIX: After decreasing -7.3% yesterday, the CBOE market volatility index is up +0.6% this morning to 23.4. This level remains elevated, relative to its long term average. In Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 volatility price index is also up +0.6% to 22.6, following yesterday’s decline of -3.9%. The index remains below the long term average of 23.9.


Bonds: The UK 10-year gilt yield and the US 10-year treasury yield have both compressed -2bps to 0.21 and 0.66%, while the German 10-year bund yield is down -1bp to -0.46%.


Currency: Sterling and the euro remain steady at $1.31 and $1.18, respectively. Hedging benefits for US dollar denominated investors into the UK and the eurozone are 0.25% and 1.10% per annum on a five-year basis.


Baltic Dry: The Baltic Dry index increased for its 11th consecutive session yesterday, up +2.0% to 1,540. This brings the cumulative gains over the last 11 trading sessions to +22%.


Oil: The International Energy Agency (IEA) has revised down its forecast to 91.9 million barrels per day in 2020. This is down -8.1 million barrels per day year on year and -140,000 barrels per day lower than July’s forecast. Brent Crude and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) remain broadly unchanged at $45.45 per barrel and $42.73 per barrel.


Gold: The price of gold has appreciated for the first time in four sessions yesterday, up +0.5% to $1,921 per troy ounce.