Brent and US crude: Oil prices rise above $30 per barrel on hopes of deal to ease supply glut January 26, 2016 Oil prices rose above $30 per barrel today, on hopes the world's oil producing nations could reach deal to tackle the global supply glut. Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose five per cent to as much as $32.24 per barrel this afternoon while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the US benchmark, ticked up to $31.89. The Organisation of the [...]
World Bank cuts its oil price forecast to $37 per barrel January 26, 2016 The World Bank cut its 2016 oil price forecast to $37 per barrel in its quarterly report released today, from $51 outlined in October. The Washington-based organisation cited Iran’s return to the market, alongside the increased resilience of the US shale gas industry. On the demand side, it pointed to warm weather in the Northern Hemisphere and [...]
US services PMI disappoints, but consumer confidence climbs as Fed meets over interest rates January 26, 2016 The latest US services purchasing managers index (PMI) has come in below expectations, further adding to the challenge faced by the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), who are deciding on whether to change the benchmark interest rate over the next 18 hours. Markit's flash services PMI came in a bit below expectations for January, [...]
Fed expected to hold on interest rates as committee members meet for the first time this year in Washington DC January 26, 2016 The US Federal Reserve is meeting today to decide whether to change the rate of interest from the 0.5 per cent rate it chose at its last meeting in December. The Fed is widely expected to leave rates unchanged when it releases statement at 7pm GMT tomorrow. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted unanimously to [...]
UK house prices: From London to Leeds, here are the UK’s cities, ranked from least to most affordable property January 26, 2016 House prices in the capital may be shooting up, but considering Londoners tend to earn a lot more than those living in, for instance, Glasgow, what does that actually mean? A new report ranks world cities by how much house prices are in comparison to locals' average salaries. And while London (unsurprisingly) is named one of the world's most [...]
US crude and WTI: Credit Suisse slashes oil price forecasts by more than $10 January 26, 2016 Credit Suisse has become the latest big bank to slash its oil price forecasts, to the tune of around $10 per barrel for 2016 and 2017, on high inventories and slower demand growth. The Swiss-based bank cut its 2016 price forecast for Brent crude to $36.25 per barrel from $58.00, while lowering its 2017 outlook to [...]
One in five home insurance claims is rejected, although almost all motor claims are paid out, finds insurance industry body ABI January 26, 2016 One in five (21 per cent) of claims on home insurance during 2013 and 2014 was turned down, according to figures out today from the Association of British Insurers (ABI). The first set of insurance payout statistics ever published by the ABI also revealed that 99 per cent of motor insurance claims were accepted, as [...]
London office rents Tube map: Here’s how much desk space costs across the capital in one simple map January 26, 2016 In the ever wonderful world of things you can map across the routes of the London Underground (other than stations) comes the price of renting a desk across zone 1 in the capital. It’s the newest of all lines, the Jubilee, where office rents cost the most, coming in at £793 for the average office desk each [...]
Say what? It turns out the London doesn’t have the world’s most unaffordable homes – Hong Kong does January 26, 2016 First-time buyers across the London may be struggling to get their hands on a property – but it turns out we don't have the world's most unaffordable homes. That dubious accolade belongs to Hong Kong, where the average home is 19 times people's annual incomes – compared to just 8.5 times in London. Pah. The figures were [...]
Overseas investor interest in London commercial property slows as prices come under pressure January 26, 2016 Investor interest in the UK’s commercial property market recorded its slowest rate of growth in more than two years, according to a survey of the country’s leading surveyors, as demand from foreign buyers waned. In its latest quarterly commercial market report, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found that buyer enquiries continued to rise in [...]