Weekly Key Data Points – Week Commencing 06/04/2020

Daniel Casali provides a round-up of key market activity during the week of 6th April.
09 Apr 2020
Daniel Casali
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  • Daniel Casali
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Daniel Casali provides a round-up of key market activity during the week of 6th April.

Monday 6 April

  • Financial regulators have freed up about $500bn of capital for lenders around the world, which gives lenders the capacity to make an extra $5tn of loans globally.
  • Signs of the coronavirus peaking in continental Europe gave markets a sense of optimism as global stock markets rose.
  • Reports suggest that shutting down the economy will cost Britain £2.4bn a day.
  • UK March GfK Consumer Confidence -34 vs -9 last month.

Tuesday 7 April

  • Global markets continued to rise amidst positive data from Europe that suggested that the rate of infections was beginning to flatten.
  • UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson was taken into intensive care with the coronavirus.
  • Property sales are thought to be down 70% in the UK, according to Zoopla.

Wednesday 8 April

  • EU finance ministers saw talks break down yet again as they failed to agree an economic response. An estimated €1.5tn is needed to support the EU countries, but countries such as Germany and the Netherlands fear they will end up carrying other countries’ debts.
  • More than 1bn people are vulnerable to job losses or sharp wage cuts because of measures to lockdown economies and fight the spread of the coronavirus, according to the Geneva-based International Labour Organisation.

Thursday 9 April

  • The Institute for Employment Studies says that up to 2m workers have lost their jobs in the biggest blow to British employment ever.
  • Oil prices rose to more than $32 a barrel as positive sentiment that OPEC+ will agree to cut the supply of oil.
  • British companies have paused £25bn worth of dividend payouts as they look to hold onto cash; more than £52bn dividend payments are also thought to be at risk.
  • The UK government has agreed to borrow billions from its emergency Bank of England overdraft in a controversial move that sees the bank handing cash directly to the government.

 

Source: Bloomberg.com

 

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This article was previously published on Smith & Williamson prior to the launch of Evelyn Partners.