Wall Street should hold off on the champagne for now April 16, 2012 ON first glance, it’s rather hard to find the good news among all the negative numbers in Citigroup’s latest batch of figures. Headline profits and revenues fell slightly and yet the bank’s share price rose 1.8 per cent yesterday, adding around $1.8bn to its value. The rise is a sign that markets think that normality [...]
Demand for banks to give early warning of interest rate rises April 15, 2012 BANKS will this week come under fresh political pressure to give customers greater notice of hikes in interest rates. Labour will tomorrow table an amendment to the Financial Services Bill after customers of Halifax were given a minimum of only 14 days’ notice of an increase in the standard variable rate, despite the record low [...]
London’s property prices keep rising on sustained low supply April 15, 2012 London’s house prices hit a record high in April while rents are set to keep soaring through 2012, two reports show today. The average asking price of a property in the capital rose to £464,944, up 2.1 per cent on the month and 7.9 per cent on the £431,013 seen last April, according to Rightmove’s [...]
CITY A.M. | SHADOW MPC April 4, 2012 ALLISTER HEATH | CITY A.M. “Hold rates. Strong survey data shows the economy has been recovering through the first quarter, firmly eliminating any need for more easing. Indeed, markets are already providing some tightening of their own, putting up mortgage rates and borrowing costs.” SIMON WARD | HENDERSON “Hold rates and suspend gilt purchases. The [...]
Give your finances a spring clean: A guide to tidying up all the mess April 1, 2012 SAVINGS Tom Stevenson, investment director, Fidelity WITH a new tax year approaching, the sun shining and a string of bank holidays ahead, spring is certainly in the air. Now is the perfect time for you to take control of your savings. The first step of any spring clean should be ensuring that your money is [...]
Mining gains offset retail weakness March 29, 2012 The FTSE was broadly flat in early trading with a bounce back in the mining sector helping to offset weaknesses among blue chip retailers like Marks & Spencer. Official figures which yesterday saw the UK’s GDP figures revised down have hit investor sentiment while energy stocks are coming under pressure from volatile oil prices. But [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 20, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES CANACCORD AND COLLINS STEWART TO AXE 100 JOBS Nearly 100 staff will be made redundant tomorrow when Canaccord Financial completes its acquisition of Collins Stewart Hawkpoint, as London’s stockbroking industry continues to shed capacity. The Vancouver Group agreed to buy Collins Stewart for £253.5m in December EU DEFIES CARBON TRADE WAR THREAT The [...]
Latest gadgets and fashionable booze added to ONS list March 14, 2012 THE PRICE of iPads, cans of stout, and packets of foam sweet will all be included in inflation calculations from now on, as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) changes its calculations to reflect evolving spending habits. Every year the official statistics agency updates its list of 18,000 goods and services in an attempt to [...]
House prices fall 0.5 per cent March 6, 2012 British house prices dipped 0.5 per cent in February, largely offsetting January’s 0.6 per cent rise, data from mortgage lender Halifax showed. House prices fell 1.9 per cent in the three months to February compared with a year ago, taking the average price of a home to £160,118. Lower inflation in the coming months should [...]
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, [...]