Covid-19 Daily Dashboard – 6 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 6 August 2020.
Equities: In Europe, stocks are currently trading lower, with the STOXX 600 down -0.5% over the morning. In the US, futures for the S&P 500 are flat. In Asia, the Kospi and S&P / ASX 200 added +1.3% and +0.7%. The Hang Seng closed -0.6% lower, as did the CSI 300 and the Topix, which were both down -0.3%.
VIX: The CBOE market volatility index and the Euro Stoxx 50 volatility price index have increased +0.4% and +1.0% over the morning, to 25.4 and 24.2. The European ‘investor fear gauge’ remains close to its long term average of 23.9, while the US VIX is still elevated, indicating further expectation of near-term volatility.
Bonds: The UK 10-year gilt yield, US 10-year treasury yield, German 10-year bund yield and Italian 10-year government bond yield are currently 0.12%,0.54%, -0.52% and 1.01% respectively.
Currency: Sterling has appreciated to $1.32, the strongest it has been since December 2019, while the euro remains steady at $1.18. Hedging benefits for US dollar denominated investors into the UK and the eurozone are 0.22% and 1.01% per annum on a five-year basis.
Baltic Dry: The Baltic Dry index gained a further +0.8% yesterday, lifting the index to 1,475 and bringing the cumulative gains over the last five trading sessions to +17%.
Oil: Brent Crude and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) are down -0.6% and -1.2% over the morning to $44.90 per barrel and $41.68 per barrel, respectively.
Gold: The price of gold appreciated by +1% yesterday to a new record high of $2,042 per troy ounce. This price is over one third higher than it was in January.
UK Economy: Following signs of an earlier and more rapid initial recovery, the Bank of England (BoE), has revised its GDP growth forecast for 2020 upwards to -9.5% from -14%, previously outlined in May. Looking further ahead, the BoE project UK GDP growth to reach +9% in 2021 and +3.5% in 2022, adjusted from the +15% for 2021 and +3% for 2022 previously forecast. The BoE note that uncertainty around their projections is unusually high.