CBRE: Investment in City offices hit an all-time high in 2015 February 5, 2016 Investment in City offices rose reached its highest ever last year, according to new figures. Real estate giant CBRE's London Property Perspective report, seen exclusively by City A.M., shows office investment rose to £8.2bn in 2015, eclipsing the previous record of £7.5bn set in 2007. In the fourth quarter alone, investment in the City rose 49 per [...]
Jobs market starts the new year with a bang February 5, 2016 The jobs market found new energy at the start of the year, according to survey figures released this morning. Job applicants soared in January, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) said. Growth in permanent placements also rose. Better candidate availability was reported by 25.5 per cent of recruiters, compared with 6.9 per cent in December. [...]
Mark Carney keeps quiet on Bank of England’s Brexit contingency plans February 4, 2016 Bank of England governor Mark Carney refused to speculate on the economic impact of a referendum on EU membership or disclose any information regarding the Bank's contingency plans. "It serves no-one at all to talk at length about the specifics of those contingency plans in advance," he told journalists after the monetary policy committee decided [...]
Christine Lagarde: IMF to mull strengthening the global safety net February 4, 2016 The International Monetary Fund will begin looking into ways to make the global financial system safer as the US Federal Reserve looks to raise interest rates and emerging markets continue to suffer. "One could think about strengthening and broadening the global precautionary financing instruments that work for everyone," IMF chief Christine Lagarde told an audience at Maryland [...]
Hound of Hounslow trader Navinder Singh Sarao allegedly “heavily engaged” in spoofing on day of “flash crash” February 4, 2016 Lawyers for the US government in an extradition case against a British trader nicknamed the "hound of Hounslow" have said that he was allegedly heavily invested in spoofing on the day of the flash crash. Navinder Singh Sarao, who appeared in Westminster Magistrates' Court today, has been accused of contributing to 2010's so-called flash crash. [...]
These are the world’s most miserable economies: Venezuela tops the misery index – but the UK is among the happiest February 4, 2016 More bad news for the troubled Venezuelan economy. With inflation running rampant, the South American country has once again been awarded the unflattering top spot in the Misery Index of the world’s economies. Bloomberg has surveyed top economists to compile a ranking of 63 economies based on their unemployment rates and inflation. Venezuela’s misery rating [...]
European Commission: “New challenges” for European economy in 2016 including China, emerging markets and geopolitical tension February 4, 2016 Much of the world economy is grappling with huge challenges which are increasing risks to European growth, the European Commission has said. In a report titled "Winter 2016 Economic Forecast: Weathering new challenges", the European Commission said the European economy is entering its fourth year of recovery, but that the risk growth could turn out worse than [...]
Bank of England rate-setters vote unanimously to keep interest rates as record lows as Chancellor George Osborne expresses mixed feelings over low inflation February 4, 2016 Borrowing costs are on course to stay lower for longer as the Bank of England’s committee of rate-setters voted unanimously to keep interest rates at record lows for the first time since the Summer. Rate-setter Ian McCafferty has been voting to increase Bank rate from 0.5 per cent to 0.75 per cent since August. His [...]
SMMT: New car sales just had the best January in 11 years February 4, 2016 A whopping 169,678 new cars were sold in the UK in January, according to new data – meaning new car sales had their best January in 11 years. Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed registrations increased 2.9 per cent in January. Most of the growth was driven (see what we [...]
UK house price betting odds: A bookmaker is taking bets house prices will fall this year – and London prices will fall fastest February 4, 2016 Today's Halifax house price index may have suggested house price growth is speeding up – but one bookmaker is giving decent odds they'll actually fall this year. Star Sports, which calls itself "the gentleman's bookmaker", is giving odds of 8/11 that house prices will fall in 2016 – against odds of 11/10 they'll rise. The [...]