House building is accelerating but one estate agent says it is unlikely to help young buyers February 25, 2016 House building in England picked up toward the end of last year, but remains substantially below pre-recession levels. Builders started work on 37,080 new properties in the three months to December, the Department for Communities and Local Government said this morning. It marks a six per cent increase on the previous six month period but [...]
Eurozone inflation edges up to eight-month high in January as impact from cheap oil starts to wear off February 25, 2016 Eurozone inflation hit an eight-month high in January as the impact of cheaper oil prices began to wear off. Annual price inflation hit 0.3 per cent, EU statistical office Eurostat said this morning. While the inflation reading was slightly lower than a previous estimate of 0.4 per cent, it is the highest annual price growth [...]
More and more people are planning ahead for their death by looking for ways to cover funeral costs February 25, 2016 More and more people are planning ahead for the financial costs of their final days, according to analysis from a funeral plan provider. According to Golden Charter, the number of sales for pre-paid funeral plans shot up by nearly 25 per cent in 2015. Collectively across the UK people now hold more than a million pre-paid [...]
Fed Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Why oil prices could fall to zero by mid-2019 despite markets predicting $50 per barrel February 25, 2016 One calculation suggests oil prices could fall to zero by mid-2019. Two St. Louis Fed analysts looked at how low oil prices could fall given tumbling inflation expectations, and found it's largely out of whack with market expectations for the black stuff to recover to $50 per barrel in around three years' time. "According to our calculations, oil prices would [...]
The 10 locations where homes earn more than you because house price growth is higher than wages February 25, 2016 Time to give up the day job? If you live in some of these locations, that might just be a possibility because your home is earning more than you. Three Rivers, Harrow and Greenwich are the three locations where rising property prices outstripped average earnings more than anywhere else. The spots in Hertfordshire and north west London earned almost [...]
Meh: UK GDP growth unchanged for the fourth quarter of 2015 February 25, 2016 UK GDP growth was 0.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year compared with the same period in 2014, according to a second estimate by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) – bang on expectations, and the same as previous estimates. The ONS said that while there had been speculation the figure could [...]
Back to the drawing board: Chinese shares on track for their biggest fall since January as oil drags down Shenzhen Composite and Shanghai Composite indices February 25, 2016 Chinese shares were down more than six per cent in afternoon trading, their biggest fall since the end of January, as oil lost gains made in recent days. The Shanghai Composite was more than six per cent lower, at 2,750 points, in mid-afternoon trading in China, while the tech-focused Shenzhen Composite was 6.5 per cent down, [...]
Energy crunch looming as older power stations turned offline February 25, 2016 The country is facing a fresh energy crisis according to a new report that suggests the gap between electricity supply and demand is shrinking. The research, carried out by law firm Bircham Dyson Bell, found emergency measures will keep the lights on, but will likely result in price spikes for both consumers and businesses. This [...]
UK car production has best January since 2008 as exports jump – SMMT February 25, 2016 British car production has had its best January since 2008, according to data released this morning. UK car makers built 137,552 vehicles in January, up eight per cent on the same month last year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. Demand from abroad helped boost sales. The number of vehicles exported rose 9.7 [...]
Oil price climbs as US demand outpaces supply February 24, 2016 Oil prices bounced this evening after US petrol demand over the past four weeks offset a rise in crude oil stockpiles. Demand for petrol soared by over five per cent compared to a year ago, while stockpiles of oil in the US rose by 3.5m barrels in the week, hitting an all-time high of over 507m barrels. [...]