London house prices: First-time buyers need household income of nearly £100k to buy May 3, 2023 Londoners’ desire to get on the property ladder has helped fuel the housing market in the capital, despite households now needing an extra £12k in income to be able to afford their own place. Figures released by Zoopla, show that in April house price growth in London rose by 0.5 per cent, as demand and [...]
London listings: Watchdog proposes doing away with ‘standard’ and ‘premium’ segments May 2, 2023 The UK’s financial watchdog announced proposals to streamline listing rules in the UK as it seeks to make the UK market a more attractive destination for firms to list. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) acknowledged that the UK’s listing regime was seen by some as too complicated and has proposed merging the ‘standard’ and ‘premium’ [...]
Explainer: Rishi Sunak eyes a revival of Help to Buy May 2, 2023 Just over a month ago, we were reporting the phasing out of Help to Buy, which was closed to new entrants last year. Now, Rishi Sunak is considering relaunching the policy. Talking of u-turns. The scheme was introduced in 2013 by George Osborne to help first-time buyers get onto the housing ladder. It offered lower [...]
Uber confident on profit as US demand rebounds in 2023 May 2, 2023 Uber forecast quarterly core earnings above estimates on Tuesday, after a surge in demand for travel and food delivery helped the US ride-sharing giant report better-than-expected results for the January-March period. Shares of the company rose 7 per cent and helped drive small gains in those of rival Lyft, which reports earnings on Thursday. Uber is benefiting from its [...]
US regional banks face big sell-off despite First Republic rescue deal May 2, 2023 Regional banks across the US were under pressure today as investors became increasingly nervous about the state of the banking sector despite JP Morgan’s acquisition of First Republic Bank. The KBW regional bank index, which includes a range of regional lenders, shed 6.6 per cent. Pacwest Bancorp shares were down nearly 30 per cent, while [...]
FTSE 100 close: Wall Street sea of red offsets HSBC and Persimmon gains in London May 2, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 was dragged deep into the red in the final hours of trading today after Wall Street was pushed lower by investors sweating over more possible banking collapses. The capital’s premier index initially climbed in the morning before eventually closing 1.23 per cent lower at 7,774.12 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 [...]
Oil markets tumble as hawkish Fed and sluggish Chinese growth drive down prices May 2, 2023 Oil prices dropped heavily today, amid growing expectations of interest rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank.
Pearson shares slump after ChatGPT hits rival US online education firm May 2, 2023 Shares in London-listed educational publisher Pearson fell today after US rival Chegg warned that ChatGPT was having a negative impact on its business. The California-based online learning platform said today that ChatGPT was starting to have a negative impact on the number of students using the platform, as it reported a seven per cent slump [...]
Credit Suisse AT1 bondholders pile pressure on Swiss regulator with second claim over $17bn writedown May 2, 2023 A second major group of Credit Suisse alternative tier 1 (AT1) bondholders is suing the Swiss financial markets regulator, known as Finma, over its decision to write down $17bn-worth of AT1 bonds as part of UBS’s forced takeover of the Swiss bank. Law firm Pallas Partners said today it is working on litigation, filed in [...]
Fineqia Glass Slipper Ventures to invest in companies focused on digital assets May 2, 2023 Fineqia to start a new venture capital fund that will invest in innovative companies in the digital asset industry.
