Covid-19 Daily Dashboard – 10 August 2020

An overview of key economic and financial metrics.
Written By:
William Matthews, Knight Frank
2 minutes to read
Categories: Covid-19

Download an overview of key economic and financial metrics relating to Covid-19 on 10 August 2020.

Equities: In Europe, the FTSE 250 is +0.6% over the morning, the STOXX 600 +0.3% and the DAX +0.1%. In the US, futures for the S&P 500 are up +0.2%. In Asia, the Kospi closed +1.5% higher following a 6 session rally with cumulative gains of +6% since 31st July and +9% year to date. The S&P / ASX 200 (+1.8%) and CSI 300 (+0.4%) also closed higher, while the Hang Seng was -0.6% down.


VIX: The CBOE market volatility index has declined -1.8% this morning to 24.2, while the Euro Stoxx 50 volatility price index is up +0.7% to 24.4. Both indices are elevated, indicating further expectation of near-term volatility.


Bonds: The German 10-year bund has compressed -2bps to -0.52%, while both the UK 10-year gilt yield and the US 10-year treasury yield are down -1bp to 0.13% and 0.56%.


Currency: Sterling are 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 0.25% and 1.07% per annum on a five-year basis.


Baltic Dry: The Baltic Dry index gained a further +0.1% on Friday, lifting the index to 1,501.


Oil: Brent Crude and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) are up +1.2% and +1.7% over the morning, to $44.95 per barrel and $41.93 per barrel, respectively.


Gold: The price of gold declined for the first time in 16 sessions on Friday, down -1% to $2,034 per troy ounce. However, this price is still a third higher than it was in January.


COVID-19: The total number of recorded cases globally is approaching 20.0 million, with 732k reported deaths according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. In the UK, daily new confirmed cases increased above 1,000 for the first time since 26th June on Sunday, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.


UK Lockdown: Preston joins East Lancashire, Greater Manchester and parts of West Yorkshire in having a local lockdown reimposed. Meanwhile, UK arrivals from Andorra, Belgium and the Bahamas will have to quarantine for 14 days. The foreign office also warned against all but essential travel to these countries. However, travellers from Brunei and Malaysia arriving in England and Wales will no longer have to quarantine due to a reduction in cases.