City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile this week? May 19, 2021 City A.M.‘s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Ex Co-op CEO joins Boomin’s board Property site Boomin has bagged itself a retail veteran this week, who is set to join the board as a non-executive director at its next [...]
UK house prices hit new record high after growing at fastest rate in five years May 10, 2021 UK house prices grew at the fastest pace in five years last month as the stamp duty holiday continued to buoy the market. Average house prices in April reached a new record high of £258,204, an annual increase of 8.2 per cent and a monthly rise of 1.4 per cent. Almost £20,000 has been added [...]
Mortgage lending rose to record £11.8bn in March after stamp duty extension May 4, 2021 UK mortgage lending saw the biggest net increase on record in March driven by extension of the stamp duty rax relief. Mortgage borrowing rose by a net £11.8bn in March, the strongest since the series began in April 1993, Bank of England figures show. The stamp duty holiday was originally due to end in March, [...]
Those in debt to be given 60 days breathing space before enforcement action May 4, 2021 People in debt will be given 60 days to get their finances back on track without debts piling up, worrying letters or enforcement action, under a new government scheme. The scheme – called ‘Breathing Space’ – will give those in debt legal protections from their creditors for 60 days, with most interest and penalty charges [...]
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 [...]