60 per cent of all properties sold in London hit by down valuations August 31, 2021 Nearly 400,000 UK property transactions have been down valued in the last year alone, according to research by London property agent Benham and Reeves, shared with City A.M. this morning. At 59 per cent, London is home to some of the largest levels of down valued homes of all UK areas and it also ranks third [...]
Stamp duty taper triggers dip in mortgage approvals August 31, 2021 Mortgage approvals declined over the last month as the tapering of the stamp duty holiday deterred Brits from pushing ahead with homepurchases, according to official data published today. Data from the Bank of England shows there were 75,152 mortgage approvals in July, the first full month after the stamp duty taper, down from 80,272 in [...]
Powell confirms Fed may start winding down stimulus measures this year August 27, 2021 The chair of the US Federal Reserve has confirmed the central bank could start winding down the wave of stimulus measures it unleashed to dampen the economic impact of the Covid crisis this year. Jerome Powell said the US economy has reached a point where it no longer needs the same scale of monetary policy [...]
US second quarter economic growth revision undershoots expectations August 26, 2021 The US economy grew at a slower pace than expected in the second quarter of this year as Americans reined in spending despite Covid restrictions easing in many states over the period, according to official figures published today. The Bureau of Economic Analysis revised the US economy second quarter annualised growth rate up to 6.6 [...]
Resolution Foundation: Stamp duty holiday not main force behind house prices rise August 21, 2021 The stamp duty holiday’s role in rocketing house prices over the past year has been overstated, the Resolution Foundation has claimed. The average value of a UK home increased by 13.2 per cent between June 2020 and June 2021 but the think tank believes the boom has more to do with other factors than the [...]
Fed to provide clues on bond buying tapering next month August 13, 2021 Experts expect the Federal Reserve to announce its plan to wind down its ultra-loose monetary policy measures launched in response to the Covid crisis next month. Nearly two thirds of economists polled by Reuters think the US central bank will outline how it will taper its asset purchases at the next meeting of the Federal [...]
Wall Street dragged down by falling airline stocks August 9, 2021 US benchmarks were dragged down by poor performances among airline stocks this morning as surging Covid cases dampens the outlook for the travel sector. The blue-chip S&P 500 dipped 0.08 per cent to 4,432 points, while the Dow Jones slid 0.24 per cent to 35,123 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fared better, jumping 0.19 per cent [...]
House prices rise but annual growth slows to 7.6 per cent as ‘steadier period’ predicted August 6, 2021 Houses prices rose again in July but slower annual growth suggests the market may be ‘cooling’, according to Halifax House Price Index data published today. The average cost of a property in the UK is now £261,221, up 0.4 per cent from June, adding £1,122 to the price of an average house. Annual growth fell [...]
Ethereum upgrade incoming as price continues to surge August 5, 2021 Crypto at a glance The Ethereum price continues to soar this morning ahead of today’s big upgrade, up 8% over the past 24 hours to almost $2,700. The latest push means Ethereum is up more than 16% over the week, with five Ethereum Improvement Proposals set to get incorporated into the blockchain’s code today. The [...]
First-half profits double at HSBC as bank reinstates dividend August 2, 2021 Banking behemoth HSBC appears to have recovered from the ravages of Covid-19, with first-half profits more than doubling on last year. The Asia-focussed bank recorded pre-tax profits of $10.8bn for the first six months of the year, some $6.5bn ahead of last year’s equivalent. The bank said all of its regions were profitable, with HSBC’s [...]