This article is only available to Macro Hive subscribers. Sign-up to receive world-class macro analysis with a daily curated newsletter, podcast, original content from award-winning researchers, cross market strategy, equity insights, trade ideas, crypto flow frameworks, academic paper summaries, explanation and analysis of market-moving events, community investor chat room, and more.
We use data on mobility from two sources, Apple and Google. The latter provides an indication of economic activity – tracking workplace, retail and transit movements. The former is a broader measure of mobility, encompassing a more complete range of activities including walking. We track them across 50 countries. Notable changes this week are:
- In DM, Greece and Italy have seen the most significant increases in mobility (Chart 1). The two countries experienced a rise in both Apple and Google measures. As popular tourist destinations, both countries reached their highest level of mobility since February on Saturday (25 July).
- Japan is another country to have experienced a significant rise in mobility. However, with an average Apple mobility score of 116 last week, it remains far below its peak (150) since Japan declared a state of emergency over Coronavirus in April.
- Relative to recent weeks, more countries seem to have experienced a fall in mobility. Belgium finds itself down on both measures, coinciding with a significant rise in COVID cases over the past 7 days. In our daily COVID Tracker, Belgium’s 3-day moving average is among the fastest rising in Europe.
- Australia Apple mobility score also decreased, but held steady in our measure of economic activity (Google). Mobility has been on a gradual decline (graphs below) since the start of July.
- Hong Kong is the largest mover in our sample. Mobility in the country is down by approx. 15% on last week. Yesterday, the country banned gatherings of more than two people, stopped all restaurant dining and made masks mandatory outdoors.
- Malaysia, South Korea, Indonesia, Israel, Chile and Colombia have all experienced declines in Apple and Google mobility. The last three countries stand out, with mobility below 60% of pre-lockdown levels.
For more details on what information the tables and charts in this report represent, see the final bullet point in previous editions.
Bilal Hafeez is the CEO and Editor of Macro Hive. He spent over twenty years doing research at big banks – JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, and Nomura, where he had various “Global Head” roles and did FX, rates and cross-markets research.
(The commentary contained in the above article does not constitute an offer or a solicitation, or a recommendation to implement or liquidate an investment or to carry out any other transaction. It should not be used as a basis for any investment decision or other decision. Any investment decision should be based on appropriate professional advice specific to your needs.)