Mortgage lending up in May but outlook unclear July 12, 2010 MORTGAGE lending rose slightly in May thanks to continued record low interest rates, the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML) said yesterday. It reported that 42,000 loans worth £6bn for house purchase were advanced in May, a 15 per cent increase on a year earlier. Remortgaging activity recovered a little as well in May, rising on [...]
Uncertainty hits buyer demand and house prices July 12, 2010 WEAK demand and a flood of properties onto the market hit house price expectations last month, according to the Royal Institution for Chartered Surveyors (RICS) monthly survey published today. Only a net 10 per cent of estate agents reported a rise rather than a fall in prices compared to 22 per cent in May. Buyer [...]
IoD survey finds a third of firms have been refused access to additional credit July 12, 2010 A THIRD of businesses have been refused additional borrowing this year by their banks due to a tightening of lending criteria and increased demands for security, according to a report released today. New findings by the Institute of Directors (IoD) show businesses are still struggling to access finance from their banks despite the continued injection [...]
ECONOMIST VIEWS: WHAT WILL DRIVE THE UK’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY? July 12, 2010 SIMON WARD | HENDERSON “The UK GDP revision confirms a domestic demand-led recovery. Domestic demand was stronger than previously thought in the latest quarter and over the last year, with net exports correspondingly weaker. The demand upgrade was focused on fixed investment.” MICHAEL SAUNDERS | CITIGROUP “We expect that this ongoing monetary stimulus [weak pound [...]
OECD unemployment rate falls July 12, 2010 The unemployment rate in the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) member countries fell to 8.6 per cent in May from 8.7 per cent the previous month. The country with the highest rates was Spain (19.9 per cent) while the lowest was South Korea at 3.2 per cent.
Business price inflation slows July 12, 2010 Business price inflation (BPI) continued to fall in June despite stubbornly high consumer price inflation, according to the London Chamber of Commerce. The BPI fell by 0.8 per cent in June on a year earlier and both fixed and variable cost inflation slowed. The index is a measure of business costs and is compiled in [...]
ECB curbs rate of bond buying July 12, 2010 The European Central Bank (ECB) slowed the pace of its controversial buying of government bonds to a near halt last week, adding substance to suggestions from one of its top policymakers that the programme could soon be phased out. It said yesterday it had bought just €1bn (£838m) worth of bonds last week, taking the [...]
China’s property market falters July 12, 2010 China’s frothy property market may have peaked after a government clampdown on speculators, new data indicated yesterday. Property prices across 70 cities fell 0.1 per cent in June compared with May – the first monthly fall since February 2009. Despite the monthly fall in June, property prices across China still remained 11.4 per cent higher [...]
Alcoa returns to profit as US results begin July 12, 2010 ALUMINIUM miner Alcoa said it had returned to profit yesterday thanks to growing sales, and raised its estimate for global consumption of the metal. The largest US aluminium producer, whose results are often viewed as a bellwether of the American economy, said it made a $136m (£91m) profit for the quarter, compared to a loss [...]
Olympic champion Usain Bolt shuns London over tax fears July 12, 2010 Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt will not compete at next month’s Diamond League meeting in London because it will not be financially viable owing to Britain’s tax laws, the Jamaican said yesterday. “I am definitely not going to run (in London),” the world 100m and 200m record holder told a news conference yesterday ahead of [...]