What you need to know before the open – 30/01 January 30, 2014 European markets are expected lower this morning after the Fed’s open market committee made the unanimous decision last night to trim another $10bn off its asset purchase programme. In addition, PMI figures from China showed that manufacturing activity in the country contracted in January. Asian markets slipped on the news, with the Nikkei losing 3.2 [...]
Cost of a London home climbs to over £400,000 January 29, 2014 THE AVERAGE price of a London home broke through the £400,000 mark at the end of last year according to official figures published yesterday, while prices across the country continued to grow this month. Two separate surveys – released by the Land Registry and Nationwide – told a familiar story for the residential property market, with [...]
What you need to know before the open – 29/01 January 29, 2014 European bourses are expected higher this morning, ahead of the Fed’s Open Market Committee meeting and in the wake of Turkey’s rates hike. Over in Asia, the Nikkei leapt the most in five months on the news that Turkey has increased interest rates from 7.75 per cent to 12 per cent. Post a measurable [...]
UK house prices jump 8.8pc from a year ago January 29, 2014 Figures from mortgage lender Nationwide have shown that house prices rose 8.8 per cent in January from a year earlier. UK house prices continued their forward march this month, increasing 0.7 per cent – their thirteenth monthly increase in a row – but slowing slightly, after December’s 1.4 per cent rise. This was still [...]
RBS faces £8bn loss after adding £3bn for legal payouts January 27, 2014 RBS SHOCKED investors late yesterday, revealing another £3.1bn hit for mis-selling and poor conduct that could leave the state-backed bank facing a huge £8bn loss. The provisions dragged down RBS shares and rounded off a bad day for the FTSE overall. The lender is now expected to have made a loss of around £8bn for [...]
London Report: Growth figures set to show UK’s strong recovery January 26, 2014 GROWTH figures for the fourth quarter are expected to give further proof of Britain’s booming recovery. Economists predict expansion of 0.8 per cent in the final three months – giving the UK its strongest yearly growth since 2007. Jonathan Loynes, of Capital economics, said: “We think that the preliminary estimate of GDP in the fourth [...]
Letters to the Editor – 27/01 – Carney’s low rates, Bonus cap, Best of Twitter January 26, 2014 Carney’s low rates [Re: Mark Carney has been the luckiest of unlucky Bank governors, Friday] The author puts his finger right on the key point when he highlights the issue of mounting imbalances due to low rates. But by the time the pressures become serious and can no longer be ignored, we will have to [...]
The Long View: The real way to shake up British banking: Embrace the third party future January 23, 2014 THE LACK of competition among Britain’s retail banks is under the microscope. Yet an important part of the solution is not getting enough attention. While breaking up big banks would not be as easy as Ed Miliband thinks, and the current height of the regulatory hurdles makes the field of entrants sparse at best, the [...]
The main winners from Help to Buy? Rich men in London January 23, 2014 Nearly 40 per cent of would-be homeowners under the age of 40 are planning to apply for the government's controversial Help To Buy scheme in 2014, according to research from Experian Consumer Services. In November, Halifax and RBS reported strong interest in the first phase of Help to Buy receiving more than 2,000 applications in [...]
Why it will take real bank reform to rid us of our addiction to candy floss credit January 22, 2014 GROWTH is back. Unemployment is falling. Each week seems to bring a flurry of upgraded forecasts. The mood of the pundits has gone from gloom to boom. But headline growth figures do not tell the full story. They only tell us about headline growth. Any government can raise output – and all other kinds of [...]