Covid-19 Daily Dashboard – 14 August 2020
An overview of key economic and financial metrics.
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Download an overview of key economic and financial metrics relating to Covid-19 on 14 August 2020.
Lockdown: From Saturday, arrivals to the UK from France, Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks and Caicos and Aruba, will have to quarantine for 14 days. In England, bowling alleys, casinos and softplay areas can restart from Saturday, as well as close contact beauty treatments, small wedding receptions and live indoor performances.
Equities: In Europe, the STOXX 600 is down -1.9% over the morning, as is the CAC 40 (-2.3%), DAX (-1.5%) and the FTSE 250 (-1.3%). In the US, futures for the S&P 500 are down -0.5% this morning. In Asia, the Kospi (-1.2%) and the Hang Seng (-0.2%) closed lower, while the CSI 300 (+1.5%) and the S&P / ASX 200 (+0.6%) closed higher.
VIX: After increasing +1.0% yesterday, the Euro Stoxx 50 volatility price index is up a further +13.5% to 25.8. The CBOE market volatility index has also increased this morning up +4.3% to 24.2. Both indices remain elevated, relative to their long term averages of 23.9 and 19.9.
Bonds: Over the week, 10-year government bond yields across Europe have seen increases of around +10bps. The US 10-year treasury yield, UK 10-year gilt yield and the German 10-year bund yield are 0.69%, 0.24% and -0.42%, respectively.
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 0.27% and 1.11% per annum on a five-year basis.
Oil: Brent Crude and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) are both down -0.9% to $44.54 and $41.84 per barrel.
Gold: The price of gold appreciated further yesterday, up +2% to $1,947 per troy ounce.
US Unemployment: There were 963,000 new unemployment applications in the week to 8th August, below expectations of 1.1 million and the first time new applications have been under 1 million since March.
US Election: On Wednesday, Joe Biden named Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President. Predictit, the online political futures market currently indicates a 43% likelihood of President Trump being re-elected in November, compared to a 44% likelihood one week ago and 41% a month ago. The current probability of Joe Biden winning the election is 59%, up from 57% last week but down from 62% one month ago.