City A.M. TV: Daily Market Snapshot April 30, 2021 Its been a fascinating month for global equity markets in April. Three key themes have dominated: i) a weak US dollar (and strong currencies elsewhere); ii) a strong US company reporting season (with that replicated in other parts of the globe); & iii) a Fed meeting and a reiteration, once again, of the Fed’s super [...]
UK banks launch new low-deposit mortgage scheme April 19, 2021 High street banks will today begin offering mortgages with a deposit of just five per cent under a new government-backed scheme. The scheme, first announced in the Budget, is designed to make home ownership more affordable for first-time buyers. Borrowers will be able to secure a mortgage with just a five per cent deposit on [...]
Wall Street flat and FTSE 100 slips into the red as Archego default hits banks March 29, 2021 Wall Street closed flat and the FTSE 100 slipped into the red today as fears of potential losses from a major US hedge fund defaulting on margin calls held back stocks. While the Dow Jones gained 0.3 per cent, the S&P 500 was 0.09 per cent lower and the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed down 0.6 per [...]
Retail footfall jumps ahead of lockdown easing as Brits prepare to socialise March 29, 2021 Retail footfall jumped last week as shoppers prepared to meet friends and family outdoors ahead of the lifting of some lockdown restrictions today. The number of visitors to UK retail destinations was up 6.6 per cent last week compared to the week before, as Brits looked forward to the relaxation of Covid rules, which allows [...]
Stamp duty holiday extension boosts mortgage lending to five-year high but approvals slip March 29, 2021 The stamp duty holiday extension boosted net mortgage borrowing to its highest level since March 2016, according to new Bank of England data. Net mortgage lending hit £6.2bn in February, with mortgage approvals for house purchase reaching 87,700. Andrew Montlake, managing director at mortgage broker Coreco, said the stamp duty extension was pivotal in fuelling [...]
Markets A.M. – Attention shifts to credit data with UK-EU vaccine row set to continue March 29, 2021 US markets once again finished a rather choppy week on a high, with the S&P500 setting another new record, and both the Nasdaq and Russell 200 also posting strong gains in the last hour of trading, in a broad-based uplift across the board. In a week that saw optimism and pessimism in equal measure, stock [...]
London house prices: First-time buyers now need average deposit of £132,685 March 24, 2021 The average deposit size being put down by people taking their first step on the property ladder in London has increased by more than £20,000 since last year, according to new research published today. Halifax found that, in the 12 months to February 2020, the average deposit put down by first-time buyers in the capital [...]
Wall Street and FTSE 100 push higher as markets shrug off Astrazeneca saga March 16, 2021 Wall Street rose to record highs this afternoon as tech stocks gained momentum ahead of a two-day policy meeting for the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 was up 0.27 per cent to an all-time high while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.17 per cent, extending a rebound in stocks following last month’s sell-off. The Dow Jones [...]
House prices edge down last month as market slows March 5, 2021 House prices inched down in February as activity slowed but remain more than five per cent up year-on-year, new data released today showed. According to Halifax’s House Price Index, prices dropped 0.1 per cent last month compared to in January, with the average price now £251,697. However, in the quarter from November to February prices [...]
Budget 2021: Government to guarantee five per cent mortgages on homes up to £600,000 March 3, 2021 The government will introduce a new scheme that will allow individuals to put down just a five per cent deposit on homes valued up to £600,000. From April, the government will introduce a the scheme that will provide a guarantee to lenders across the UK that offer mortgages to people with a deposit of five [...]