What you need to know before the open February 26, 2014 Markets are set to open mixed this morning ahead of UK GDP data, and with China fears pulling down metal prices. US markets finished a touch lower yesterday, but have weathered well the string of unimpressive data the country’s seen. Over in Asia, the Nikkei came down from a 4-week high, tainted by US data, [...]
Home purchase lending back to pre-crisis levels February 25, 2014 BRITISH banks last month approved the highest monthly level of mortgage lending since September 2007, before the devastating effect of the financial crisis. Mortgages for house purchases have soared by 57 per cent since the same month last year, and remortgaging has also grown by 51 per cent in the same period. The British Bankers’ [...]
Mortgage approvals skyrocket to 76-month high February 25, 2014 Mortgage approvals have skyrocketed by 57 per cent year-on-year to a 76-month high in January, according to the British Bankers Association (BBA). Approvals for house purchases leapt to 49,972 in January from 47,086 in December. The numbers follow a stream of data showing a sustained burst of activity in the UK housing market. In 2013, [...]
What you need to know before the US open February 20, 2014 US stock index futures suggest markets will open lower, as investors look again towards ongoing emerging market turmoil. The continuing and severe violence in Ukraine at the moment has seen the country’s hryvnia plummet to five-year lows, and state debt insurance rising to 2009 highs. Weaker growth from China – the Markit/HSBC purchasing managers’ index [...]
January mortgage approvals up over a third from a year ago February 20, 2014 More fuel to stoke house price fear fires this morning, with added evidence that market activity started 2014 very much on the front foot. Mortgage approvals hit their highest level in six years in the final quarter of 2013, averaging 70,000. And in January, they were up 33 per cent year-on-year. According to figures from [...]
RBS pays £165m over mortgage sales in the US February 19, 2014 RBS SETTLED a class action case in the US yesterday, agreeing to pay disgruntled investors $275m (£165m) over mortgage-backed securities sold in the pre-crisis boom years. The bank also suspended a third foreign exchange trader this week as part of its internal probe into alleged abuse of the markets. Separately, RBS announced the sale of parts of [...]
Paragon becomes second new bank in 100 years February 18, 2014 Paragon Bank launches today after receiving a license from the authorities – the first new license since Metro Bank’s in 2010, making Paragon the second new bank in over 100 years. The bank’s parent group was already engaged in specialist lending such as buy to let mortgages. But this license allows it to [...]
Challenger banks face a Capital Catch 22: It’s time to level the playing field February 5, 2014 WANDER down any high street and you’ll see those well-known chain restaurants offering appetising food at a reasonable price. Then there are the one-off, often family-run eateries with their own unique menu – perhaps with a speciality that will one day become a staple of that household-name restaurant over the road. The larger chains, of [...]
Best of the Brokers for 4 February 2014 February 3, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com SUPERGROUP Cantor Fitzgerald has raised its target price for the owner of the Superdry fashion label to 1,650p from 1,400p and kepts its “buy” recommendation. The broker expects the retailer to report third quarter like-for-like sales growth of three per cent and retail [...]
Mortgages lead lending pickup but firms see less from banks January 30, 2014 The UK saw mortgage approvals hit a six-year high of 71,638 in December, up 29.3 per cent year-on-year, according to the Bank of England (BoE). Lending for mortgages led the marginal pickup in bank lending, which was up 1.3 per cent year-on-year in December. Home lending rose by £1.7bn in December, higher than the £1.05bn [...]