March 30, 2007

Asian equities markets mostly higher

by Elaine Frei
Global equities markets were mixed on Friday, with Asia Pacific markets mostly up, but Europe well mixed and the US lower at midday and over the week. Markets were mostly up in the Asia Pacific Region. The main exception was the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong, which dropped 0.11 percent to 19,800.93. The Straits Times index in Singapore added 0.34 percent ...

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Processing hang-up delays automatic pay deposits

by Elaine Frei
As many as 400,000 individuals will not have their pay deposited in their bank accounts as usual on Friday due to a processing glitch. This could cause problems for those who have automated payments scheduled to go out over the weekend. Banks, however, have vowed that customers will not be charged if their accounts become overdrawn due to the ...

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“Nil refund” clauses to be removed from payment protection policies

by Elaine Frei
Under a deal with the Financial Services Authority, banks and insurance carriers have agreed to remove “nil refund” clauses from contracts for payment protection insurance policies (PPI). The FSA has been critical of such provisions and the Competition Commission has been investigating the whole issue of PPIs. Payment protection insurance is meant to pay off loans when ...

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March 29, 2007

Equities markets mixed on Thursday

by Elaine Frei
The Asia and Pacific region equities markets were mostly up on the session on Thursday. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 0.51 percent to 5,943.4. The Straits Times index in Singapore gained 0.61 percent to 3,220.27, while in India the Sensex was 0.74 percent higher to 12,979.66. Meanwhile in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 1.37 percent ...

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OFT to open formal inquiry into bank fees

by Elaine Frei
The Office of Fair Trading has decided to formally inquire into the issue of bank charges, after thousands of complaints about unfair charges for things like bouncing a check or overdrawing a current account. The OFT has been looking into the issue on an informal basis for the past half-year and has concluded that a more thorough look ...

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CBI says housing market drove March retail sales

by Elaine Frei
The Confederation of British Industry, it its most recent survey of retailers, has said that 52 percent of retailers sold more this March than they did last year at the same time, while only 20 percent said that sales were down from last year. The 32 percent difference was the best positive balance since December 2004, according to ...

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March 28, 2007

Equities decline globally; oil, metals prices rise

by Elaine Frei
Global equities markets were lower on Wednesday. In Asia and the Pacific, the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 0.66 percent to 5,913.3, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 0.78 percent to 19,553.87. Elsewhere in the region, the declines were even larger. The Straits Timex index in Singapore was 1.07 percent lower to 3,201.75 and in India ...

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House price inflation cools

by Elaine Frei
According to new figures from the Nationwide, house price inflation fell below 10 percent in March. The building society reports that house prices were up by 0.4 percent in March after going up by a revised 0.6 percent in February. This brings the annual rate of growth to 9.3 percent, down from 10.2 percent in February. The Land Registry also ...

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Current account interest rivals some savings accounts

by Elaine Frei
In a new report, financial website Moneyfacts has found that some high-interest current accounts offer high enough interest that they could be considered as an alterative to a traditional savings account. Some of these accounts, the website says, are currently offering current accounts with interest at six percent or higher, higher than any available instant access savings account. There are ...

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March 27, 2007

Equities markets mixed as oil prices drop, bond yields rise

by Elaine Frei
Equities markets in Asia and the Pacific were mostly lower on Tuesday, the main exception being the Straits Times index in Singapore, which added 1.01 percent to 3,230.61. Elsewhere, the Sydney Ordinaries and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong each dropped 0.3 percent, to 5,952.3 and 19,706.79 respectively. In India, the Sensex fell 1.22 ...

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Halifax reports theft of mortgage customer information

by Elaine Frei
Halifax, part of the HBOS Group (LSE: HBOS), has reported that a briefcase stolen from an employee’s car last Wednesday night contained the personal details of around 13,000 mortgage customers. The bank has said that the theft was reported promptly to both the police and to the Financial Services Authority, but that it did not believe that any of ...

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Fewer homes owner-occupied in England

by Elaine Frei
Home ownership might not be as popular in England as it once was. There were 14.62 million owner-occupied homes in England last year, out of 20.8 million households in all, according to the Department for Communities and Local Government. That is 1.8 million more homeowners than there were in 1997, but 25,000 fewer than in 2005. It was the ...

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March 26, 2007

Real estate, homebuilders in global equities focus

by Elaine Frei
Equities markets were mixed in the Asia Pacific region and were lower just about everywhere else on Monday as the real estate and house building sectors took hits in many areas, seemingly excluding on the UK house building sector, which benefited from mergers news. In the Asia Pacific region, the Sydney Ordinaries added 0.54 percent to 5,965 and the Hang Seng ...

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RBS employees warned on accounts

by Elaine Frei
Employees of the Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS; NYSE: RBS PRM) have been warned that if they do not open an account with the bank or one of its subsidiaries, at the very least they will not be paid. That means that employees must have an account with RBS, NatWest, One Account, Coutts, or Adam & Co. The warning ...

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Survey: House moving costs up 225 percent in a decade

by Elaine Frei
According to a new survey from Propertyfinder, it will cost you an average of 225 percent more to move house in the UK now than it did ten years ago. The exact amount will vary depending on where in the UK you have bought your new home, but on average the cost of moving house now ...

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March 23, 2007

Wall Street sees gains at midday amid mixed global markets

by Elaine Frei
Equities in Asia and the Pacific were mixed on Friday. The Sydney Ordinaries dropped 0.04 percent to 5,933.1, while in India the Sensex fell 0.17 percent to 13,285.93. On the other hand, in Hong Kong the Hang Seng gained 0.01 percent to 19,692.64 and the Straits Times index added 0.05 percent to 3,205.82. In ...

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Survey: Most bank customers asking penalty refunds get them

by Elaine Frei
Amid continuing accusations that UK banks are overcharging for things such as overdrawn accounts or exceeding a credit limit, a new report includes data showing that 85 percent of people who ask for refund of what they believe are unfair bank penalties have been at least partially successful in having those fees refunded. Only a third of ...

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Interest-only mortgages gain in popularity, lenders cautious

by Elaine Frei
According to recent report from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, interest-only mortgages are becoming popular once again. The number of such loans taken out in 2006 was up by 33 percent to 222,400, the CML says. However MoneyExpert, the consumer website, says that one out of five lenders do not offer interest-only mortgages as an option to borrowers. In ...

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March 22, 2007

London markets higher on session

by Elaine Frei
Asian and Pacific equities markets were higher on Thursday. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 1.52 percent to 5,935.4, while the SP/ASX200 was 93.8 points higher to 5955.7. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong gained 0.89 percent to 19,690.25, while India’s Sensex was 2.8 percent higher to 13,308.03 and the Straits Times index in Singapore was up 2.9 percent ...

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New budget encourages “green” mortgages

by Elaine Frei
In announcing the new budget, Chancellor Gordon Brown not only said that the government will be offering grants for pensioners to help make their homes more energy-efficient but he also encouraged banks and building societies to create mortgages especially for the purposes of allowing homeowners to make energy efficiency improvements that both cuts the consumption of energy and lowers the homeowners’ power ...

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