UK house price drop worsens as London gains June 28, 2012 THE DROP in house prices in the UK accelerated in June, as weakness from the Eurozone and the expiry of the stamp duty holiday took their toll, Nationwide said yesterday. Prices were down 0.6 per cent on the month, as part of a 1.5 per cent slide since June 2011 – the biggest year-on-year fall in [...]
IS THIS LATEST HOUSE PRICE SLUMP A SURPRISE? June 28, 2012 ANDREW GOODWIN ERNST & YOUNG ITEM CLUB Given the state of the economy, Nationwide is looking at a very low number of transactions in computing their data, which throws some doubt on the representativeness of their data. The general trend seems to show a general downward drift of roughly one per cent per quarter. CRAIG [...]
Bank warns borrowing costs will rise June 28, 2012 BRITISH banks expect to significantly raise borrowing costs for businesses and home-buyers over the next three months as the cost of their funding rises, the Bank of England said yesterday. The Bank’s latest quarterly credit conditions survey shows the challenge faced by the central bank and the coalition to lower the cost of credit to [...]
Consumer confidence stays low June 28, 2012 UK consumers remained down in the dumps about the economy last month, according to the latest GfK confidence figures. The survey showed an index score of -29 for the economy, in line with May’s reading and slightly down on the -25 figure seen this time last year. Brits are even gloomier about the country’s finances [...]
Irish retail sales fall further June 28, 2012 Irish retail sales volumes fell 0.1 per cent in May and 2.1 per cent on the year, Central Statistics Office figures showed yesterday. Final figures for April showed a monthly fall of 0.8 per cent and an annual drop of 1.8 per cent – an improvement on earlier data that showed falls of 1.5 per [...]
Egypt tops emerging equities June 28, 2012 Egyptian stocks topped returns on emerging equity markets in the first six months of 2012 with a rise of 30 per cent, well above the broader MSCI emerging stock index, where spectacular first quarter gains crumbled under the impact of the euro crisis. MSCI’s dollar-based emerging equity index has fallen one per cent in the [...]
WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 28, 2012 BAE Systems Tom Arseneault has been appointed executive vice president, product sectors, and chief technology officer of the defence giant. He most recently served as president of BAE’s electronic systems sector, and joined the company in 2010. Additionally, Larry Prior, current executive vice president, service sectors, will become chief operating officer. Mercer Aled Jones has [...]
BEST of the BROKERS June 28, 2012 EVRAZ Goldman Sachs rates the steel maker “buy” but has slashed its target price from 700p to 410p. The broker has cut its forecasts for commodity prices, resulting in a four per cent fall in assumptions across the industry this year. However, Goldman remains positive about steel, and thinks Evraz is well-positioned to improve as [...]
Libor scandal drags FTSE 100 into the red as banking stocks plunge June 28, 2012 BANKING shares dragged Britain’s FTSE 100 into negative territory yesterday, battered by concerns over the financial impact of an investigation into the fixing of interbank lending rates that has already engulfed Barclays. Barclays slumped 15.5 per cent in its worst daily fall since 2009, with four times the usual number of shares traded in London. [...]
Stocks volatile over EU, banks and Obamacare June 28, 2012 US stocks fell yesterday but pared back sharp losses late in the session on talk of progress by European leaders in easing the region’s debt crisis, while the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding a landmark healthcare law hit large health insurers. Markets are especially skittish about any shift in expectations for the Eurozone as European Union [...]
