Covid-19 Daily Dashboard – 13 May 2020
An overview of key economic and financial metrics.
1 minute to read
Equities
Equity markets contracted this morning as fears of a potential second wave of COVID-19 cases continue, as well as US-China tensions re-emerging. Declines were led by Frankfurt’s DAX, which fell -2.0%, followed by STOXX 600 (-1.5%) and the FTSE 100 (-1.2%). Similarly, the S&P 500 ended its six-day run of gains, closing -2.1% lower yesterday.
Bonds
UK 10-year gilt yields are lower this morning, currently at 0.22%. The German 10-year bund yield has fallen to -0.54%. The yield gap between German 10-year bonds and Italian 10-year bonds is currently 244bps.
Currency
Sterling and the euro are at $1.23 and $1.08, respectively. Hedging benefits for US dollar denominated investors into the UK is circa 0.18% per annum on a five-year basis.
Baltic Dry
The Baltic Dry index declined for the 15th consecutive session, with a further -8.6% fall to $433. This has been led by a significant drop in capesize, the largest dry cargo ships, rates. In the past 14 trading days, the Baltic capsize index declined by 71%. The continued contraction in the Baltic Dry is indicative of the subdued demand for raw materials and subsequently manufacturing.
Oil
Oil prices are down this morning, with Brent Crude falling -3.0% to $29.08 and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) moderating by -1.2% to $25.46 a barrel.
UK GDP
UK monthly GDP for March contracted by -5.8%, the sharpest decline since the monthly series began in 1997. Q1 GDP fell by -2.0% q-o-q.
Download an overview of key economic and financial metrics relating to Covid-19 on 13 May 2020.