ECONOMICS

Daily Economics Dashboard - 7 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 7 April 2021.

  • Equities: In Europe, the FTSE 250 (+0.8%) is the best performing index over the morning, followed by the CAC 40 (+0.2%), the DAX (+0.1%) and the Stoxx 600 (0.0%). In the US, futures for the S&P 500 (+0.1%) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.1%) saw marginal gains. In Asia, the TOPIX (+0.7%), S&P / ASX 200 (+0.6%) and the Kospi (+0.3%) all closed higher, while the CSI 300 (-0.7%) and the Hang Seng (-0.9%) closed down over the day. Of the equity indexes we track, only the FTSE 100 and IBEX 35 have yet to recover to levels seen at the start of 2020. The best performing index over this period is South Korea’s KOSPI, which is currently +43% higher than the start of January 2020.
  • VIX: The Euro Stoxx 50 volatility index has declined to 16.8. This is the lowest level since February 2020 and comfortably below the long term average of 23.9. The CBOE market volatility index is also below its long term average of 19.9, currently 17.9.
  • Bonds: The UK 10-year gilt yield, the German 10-year bund yield and the US 10-year treasury yield all compressed by -2bps, down to 0.78%, 1.64% and -0.34% respectively.
  • Currency: Sterling and the euro are currently $1.38 and $1.19. Currency hedging benefits for US dollar denominated investors into the UK and Eurozone are 0.59% and 1.78% on a five year basis.
  • Oil: Brent Crude and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) are both up by circa 1% this morning to $63.4 and $59.9.
    Baltic Dry: The Baltic Dry increased by +1.0% to 2,092 on the 6th April. While this level is -10% below the March peak of 2,319, it remains +53% higher than the start of the year.
  • Gold: Gold declined by -0.2% this morning to $1,738 per troy ounce. Expectations of a faster global economic recovery could depress the price of gold going forward.
  • Global economy: The IMF raised its global growth forecast for 2021 to 6% yesterday from 5.5% estimated in January. If achieved, this will be the fastest global growth rate since 1976. For 2022, the IMF predicts global growth to reach 4.4%, higher than the 4.2% previously projected.