Covid-19 Daily Dashboard – 1 May 2020

Equities

US equities saw their strongest month since 1987 in April, reducing S&P 500 YTD losses to c.10%. However, global equities fell over the morning, in part a response to the fear of new tensions between China and the US and  contractions in earnings from large US companies, including Apple and Amazon. 

VIX

Reflecting the above, the “investor fear gauge”, the VIX volatility index saw double digit growth this morning, currently at 38.0, after closing yesterday at 34.2. Elevated levels suggest continued near term equity market volatility. 

Currency

Sterling has appreciated slightly to $1.26 this morning. Hedging benefits for US dollar denominated investors into the UK are currently 0.15% per annum on a five-year basis, while the hedging benefit of US dollar denominated investors into the Eurozone has increased to 1.10%, over the same time period. 

Oil

Brent Crude is up 3.5% this morning, currently priced at $26.16 a barrel. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first two months of 2020, China’s imports of crude oil increased 5+%, compared to the same two months in 2019. 

Loan loss provisions

RBS have set aside £802 million to deal with an expected increase in defaults in Q1 2020. In comparison, the bank’s loan loss provisions were at £86 million in the same quarter last year. 

Download an overview of key economic and financial metrics relating to Covid-19 on 1 May 2020.