Market Information Tuesday 31 March 2020

A deep recession in Europe this year seems imminent. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) foresees this based on the latest developments of the coronavirus. According to IMF, the severity of the recession mainly depends on how long the many restrictive measures will remain in force. Every month that large European economies keep their non-vital sectors shut down, their annual gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to shrink by about 3%. IMF fears a global recession at least as severe as during the financial crisis of 2008 or worse.

The economic confidence of businesses and consumers in the eurozone showed a historic decline in March due to the corona crisis. This was reported by the European Commission. This month’s index decreased by 8.9 points to 94.5 points, the sharpest decline since measurements began. The largest drops in confidence in the large eurozone economies were seen in Italy and Germany, and to a lesser extent in France, the Netherlands and Spain.

The activity of the Chinese industry picked up considerably in March, after the strongest contraction ever seen for China’s industry in February, as a result of the corona crisis. As a result, the Chinese economy seems to be recovering slowly from the severe blow caused by the virus outbreak. According to the Chinese Bureau of Statistics, the purchasing managers index, which measures industrial activity, increased to 52 last month, from an absolute low of 35.7 in February. A level of 50 or more indicates growth, including contraction.

The 6M Euribor decreased with 1 basis point to -0.28% compared to previous business day. The 10Y Swap decreased with 2 basis points to -0.04% compared to previous business day.

In the attachment, today’s market data on money and capital market rates as well as other rates are presented.

Articles with relevant financial information on the Coronacrisis can be found here: https://zandersgroup.com/en/news/