Cost of weekly supermarket shop drops for fourth month in a row to hit lowest level in over a year April 4, 2016 The cost of the average weekly grocery shop has fallen for the fourth month in a row to reach its lowest level in over a year, data released today shows. Research by price comparison site MySupermarket found that a basket of 35 staple products across the major grocers cost £84.36 in March, down 3.8 per [...]
UK house prices: south east to outperform London in 2016 as buyers seek out more affordable homes, says Cebr April 4, 2016 House price growth will slow to 4.9 per cent this year, according to a new report out today, with the south east poised to outpace the capital as buyers look for better value elsewhere. The study, published by the Centre for Economics and Business (Cebr), says 2016 is turning into a year of two halves [...]
UK’s finance chiefs rally behind the vote to keep Britain in the EU, as uncertainty curbs appetite for risk April 4, 2016 The majority of the UK's finance chiefs are so nervous of a vote for a Brexit this summer that it's stopping them from taking on other risks, a report out today has found. According to the survey by Deloitte of over 100 finance chiefs, three out of four (75 per cent) are now in favour of [...]
House prices soar by 47,000 per cent in the 90 years since the Queen was born April 4, 2016 The price of the average British home has ballooned by 47,000 per cent since Queen Elizabeth II was born in April 1926, new research shows, rising from £619 to £291,505 over the past 90 years. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and analysed by Jackson-Stops & Staff to mark the Queen's birthday later [...]
Iranian minister rebuffs Saudi oil demands, throwing a spanner in the Opec and Russia production freeze talks April 3, 2016 Plans for a deal to clear the global oil supply glut with a production freeze have hit a hurdle after the Iranian oil minister refused demands from Saudi Arabia to throttle its production. Iran’s Bijan Zanganeh told the country’s Mehr News Agency today Iran still intends to increase its output to four million barrels a day, [...]
Oil prices fall after Opec freeze deal is thrown into doubt April 1, 2016 Oil prices edged lower today, after comments from Saudi Arabia threw the widely anticipated freeze deal into doubt. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 4.2 per cent to $38.6 per barrel this afternoon. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, tumbled 3.9 per cent to $36.86 per barrel. Read more: How the oil price rout will affect [...]
Serious Fraud Office asks Monaco for help with investigation into oil industry corruption April 1, 2016 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has asked Monaco for help investigating alleged corruption in the oil industry. It put in an urgent request for international judicial assistance in criminal matters to its government, resulting in it raiding the offices of oil services firm Unaoil and the homes of its directors. Two media reports said that [...]
The euro is currently up one per cent on the pound at £0.80 April 1, 2016 The euro is currently up one per cent on the pound. On the pound, the euro stands at £0.80 – higher than it has closed in 2016 after starting the year at around £0.77. Read more: Goldman warns Brexit could slash sterling by 20 per cent Meanwhile, sterling was down nearly 0.7 per cent against the dollar at $1.43 shortly after US jobs data [...]
Saudi Arabia says it won’t freeze oil production without Iran as it prepares to sell Saudi Aramco April 1, 2016 Saudi Arabia has said it won't freeze oil production without participation from Opec rebel Iran, while it plans to sell a stake of "less than five per cent" in Saudi Aramco. During a five-hour long interview with Bloomberg News, Mohammed Bin Salman, the deputy crown prince, said: "If all countries agree to freeze production, we’re ready." "If there [...]
Markit PMI: British manufacturing edges up but quarterly growth remains weak April 1, 2016 While British manufacturing ticked up last month from its weakest level in nearly three years, quarterly growth remained disappointing. It comes as the business secretary, Sajid Javid, visits Port Talbot to meet workers and management affected by Tata's decision to sell its UK assets. Read more: The travel industry must love Sajid Javid The Markit/CIPS manufacturing Purchasing Managers' [...]