London rents accelerate as amount of payments in arrears increases January 22, 2016 London rents grew 6.3 per cent year-on-year in December, according to figures released this morning. The rate of growth was the joint-fastest for a calendar year since 2011, estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains said. Across England and Wales, rents rose 3.4 per cent on the year, the fastest rate of calendar-year growth for [...]
The big short: Market volatility increases short selling on the FTSE 100 by 15 per cent in 2016 as the number of non-disclosed short positions increases January 21, 2016 The turbulent start to the markets has encouraged short sellers to increase their positions – the number of shares on loan has increased 15 per cent since the start of the year, and is now worth $25bn (£17.6bn) according to the latest data from Markit. Short selling is when an investor borrows shares in order to sell and [...]
Oil industry leaders bullish in Davos, BP boss and Saudi Aramco forecast recovery in price January 21, 2016 The chairman of Saudi Arabia controlled oil company Saudi Aramco Khalid Al-Falih labelled the current oil price as “irrational”, and said it should be higher than $30 a barrel. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the chairman also made it clear if the oil price stays low Aramco would be able to endure [...]
S&P: China’s financial sector faces “tougher” 2016 January 21, 2016 Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has warned that China’s embattled financial sector must navigate an even tougher playing field this year. Mounting concern over the pace of China’s economic slowdown, coupled with falling oil prices, have sparked a sell-off across global financial markets since the beginning of this year. S&P said a slump [...]
Wall Street markets open to more volatility, but S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones all currently trading up January 21, 2016 Volatility characterised US markets again as they tentatively opened higher only to fall back before rebounding again in the first 20 minutes after markets opened. The S&P 500 is up 0.71 per cent, or 13.1 points to 1872.46, having fallen to 1850. The Nasdaq recovered from a low point of 4438, and is currently up 28 [...]
London housing crisis? Deloitte and other businesses might soon have to build houses for staff January 21, 2016 The ever increasing cost of living in London has led one of the City's biggest employers to consider building its own housing for junior staff. Deloitte has already helped younger staff joining the firm with securing rental accommodation because of the struggles of finding somewhere affordable to live in the capital. But now it has said it may even need [...]
Brent crude and WTI: Oil prices steady after a shaky start January 21, 2016 Oil prices steadied today, shrugging off a shaky start which saw it fall back towards 12-year lows touched earlier this week. Brent crude, the global benchmark, increased 1.22 per cent to $28.22 per barrel. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, rose 0.95 per cent to $28.54. But the black stuff is still down by [...]
Eurozone consumer confidence edges down in January but remains at elevated levels January 21, 2016 Eurozone consumer confidence has fallen this month, according to figures released today. The European Commission's flash consumer confidence indicator dropped 0.6 points to a score of minus 6.3 in January. However, the figures show confidence is still at historically high levels. Flash figures are estimates based on incomplete survey data. Final figures based on all survey reponses will be published [...]
Bank of England’s Martin Weale says wage growth is too slow for an interest rate hike January 21, 2016 Another member of the Bank of England's rate-setting committee as flagged up slow wage growth as a reason they are likely to hold off on voting for an interest rate increase. "Whatever the causes of the recent weakness, inflation is unlikely to recover back to target without a marked improvement in wage growth," Martin Weale [...]
Euro plummets as Mario Draghi opens the door for more easing in March January 21, 2016 Eurozone monetary policy could be loosened further in March, European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi has suggested. The euro immediately dropped 0.6 per cent against the dollar. European stocks shot up, with the German Dax rising over one per cent, building on earlier gains. The French Cac 40 also jumped an extra one per cent after [...]