BlackRock plans bond hub April 12, 2012 AMERICAN investment banks face a new threat to their profits as BlackRock plans to launch a trading platform that would cut out Wall Street. The world’s largest money manager has devised a platform which would allow it to trade bonds directly with the rest of its industry. The electronic trading hub would be run by [...]
End of relief on stamp duty hits UK house prices March 29, 2012 HOUSE prices fell sharply in March, data from Nationwide showed yesterday, as the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers came to an end. Lending figures from the Bank of England also showed mortgage approvals plunged in February, suggesting the market has slowed further. Prices fell one per cent in March, the first decline in six [...]
House prices in biggest monthly fall for two years March 29, 2012 House prices suffered their sharpest monthly fall in more than two years in March, as first-time homebuyers braced for the removal of stamp duty exemption, mortgage lender Nationwide said. Nationwide reported one per cent seasonally adjusted fall in house prices on the month, the biggest since February 2010, and a sharp contrast to the 0.3 [...]
Economic news drives quiet week for trading March 25, 2012 TODAY Investors in highly volatile oil and exploration stocks could face surprises this week, as some small-cap firms report, but the UK market should start off quietly. Volume may pick up in the afternoon with pending home sales from the US. Given mildly disappointing existing home sales figures last week, pending home sales could also [...]
Cuts to deficit will calm Moody’s nerves March 21, 2012 CHIEF GLOBAL STRATEGIST, CITY INDEX THE UK Budget has the basic requirements to keep credit agencies at bay – for now. The plan is to enact a 7 per cent stamp duty on property worth more than £2m, slash the main corporate tax rate to 24 per cent, lift the personal allowance by £1,100 to [...]
FTSE sees banks up as Greece is saved March 2, 2012 The FTSE 100 was flat this morning and the only significant gainers were banks buoyed by further steps towards saving Greece from the financial abyss. In Wall Street and in Asia nudged up overnight as the European Central Bank’s fresh liquidity injection this week served to warm up investor sentiment. The spotlight is on the [...]
FTSE flat as ECB pours in more funds February 29, 2012 The FTSE 100 was flat this morning with investors awaiting another injection of cash from the European Central Bank, aimed at propping up the Eurozone. The ECB is expected to pump about 500bn euros (£422bn) into the Eurozone’s financial system to fight the region’s debt crisis, enabling banks to tap as many of the ultra-cheap, [...]
Mortgage lending in surprise lift in January February 29, 2012 Mortgage lending and mortgage approvals for house purchase in Britain posted a surprisingly strong rise in January, official data showed in a sign that the sluggish housing market is improving. The figures support forecasts for a pick-up in consumption this year as the housing market is a vital component of consumers’ wealth in Britain. However, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 22, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES RUSSIAN LINK IN FRAUD CLAIM A $150m fraud allegedly attempted by a former fund manager at Threadneedle Asset Management is linked to a trade in more than a billion Argentinian warrants by former staff at Otkritie, the Russian financial services group. Threadneedle confirmed on Tuesday that a former trader had been dismissed in [...]
Repossessions forecast to rise February 9, 2012 HOUSE PRICES are set to fall in 2012 as unemployment rises and household income stays depressed, according to yesterday’s forecasts from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and today’s LSL house price index and e.surv mortgage monitor. The weak economic outlook is also set to push up repossessions as more borrowers fail to keep up [...]