Covid-19 Daily Dashboard - 13 November 2020

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

Download an overview of key economic and financial metrics relating to Covid-19 on 13 November 2020.

Equities: In Europe, stocks are mostly higher over the morning, with gains recorded by the CAC 40 (+0.5%), DAX (+0.4%) and the STOXX 600 (+0.2%). However, the FTSE 250 is flat. In Asia, the Topix (-1.3%), CSI 300 (-1.1%) and the S&P / ASX 200 (-0.2%) all closed lower. The Kospi (+0.7%) was the only index to be higher on close, while the Hang Seng closed flat. In the US, futures for the S&P 500 are up +0.9%.
VIX: Following an +8.6% increase over yesterday, the CBOE market volatility index has decreased -4.3% this morning to 24.3, remaining above its long term average (LTA) of 19.9. Meanwhile, the Euro Stoxx 50 volatility index has increased, up +0.4% to 23.4, just below its LTA of 24.0.
Bonds: The UK 10-year gilt yield has compressed -2bps to 0.34%, while the US 10-year treasury yield has softened +1bp to 0.89%.The German 10-year bund yield has held steady at -0.54%.
Currency: Sterling and the euro are currently $1.32 and $1.18, respectively. Hedging benefits for US dollar denominated investors into the UK and the eurozone are at 0.39% and 1.24% per annum on a five-year basis.
Baltic Dry: The Baltic Dry decreased -1.5% yesterday to 1,1124, which remains at a 5-month low. Over the past 28 sessions, the index has seen cumulative declines of -46%. The main driver of this contraction is the capesize index, which is also at its lowest level since June. However the Baltic Dry remains +3% above where it was in January.
Oil: Brent Crude and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) have decreased -0.7% and -0.9% over the morning to $43.24 and $40.76, respectively.
Gold: The price of gold increased +0.5% to $1,875 per troy ounce on Thursday, which is circa +23% above where it was at the start of the year, albeit -9% lower than its record high of $2,063 in August.
US Unemployment: There were 709k new unemployment applications in the week to 7th November, below market expectations of 735k and lower than the previous week’s reading of 757k. This is lowest level of new unemployment applications since March, however applications remain considerably higher than pre-pandemic levels.