Daily Economics Dashboard - 31 March 2021

Download an overview of key economic and financial metrics on 31 March 2021.

• Equities: Globally, stocks are mixed this morning. In Europe, the Stoxx 600, the FTSE 250 and the DAX remained unchanged so far, while the CAC 40 (-0.1%) is marginally down. In Asia the TOPIX (-1.2%) was the worst performing index, followed by the CSI 300 (-0.9%), the Hang Seng (-0.8%) and the KOSPI (-0.3%), while the S&P / ASX 200 (+0.8%) closed higher. In the US, futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are both down -0.1% so far this morning.
• VIX: The CBOE market volatility index increased slightly to 20.0, in line with its long term average of 19.9. The Euro Stoxx 50 volatility decreased by -1.8% to 18.1, below its LTA of 23.9.
• Bonds: The UK 10-year gilt yield and the German 10-year bund yield remained stable at 0.83% and -0.28% respectively. The US 10-year treasury yield softened +2bps to 1.73%, following the 14-month high of 1.78% reached yesterday.
• Currency: Sterling and the euro are currently $1.38 and $1.17, respectively. Currency hedging benefits for US dollar denominated investors into the UK and Eurozone are 0.67% and 1.77% on a five year basis.
• Oil: Oil is trading up today, ahead of the OPEC and allies meeting scheduled for tomorrow. Brent Crude and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) are +0.5% and +0.4% higher this morning at $64.5 and $60.8, respectively.
• Baltic Dry: The Baltic Dry declined on Tuesday, down by -2.7% to 2,103. This level is -9% below the 22nd March peak of 2,319, but remains at a rate last seen in September 2019.
• Gold: After two days of decline, Gold remained stable this morning at $1,685 per troy ounce, a level which is -11% below where it was at the start of the year.
• UK economy: The UK GDP grew +1.3% in the last quarter of 2020, revised up from a previous estimate of 1.0%. The annual figure for 2020 was also revised up to -9.8% from a -9.9%, but it still remains the largest fall in UK GDP ever recorded. Despite the last two quarters of growth, GDP remains -7.3% below its pre-pandemic level.