The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has today announced UK car sales fell by 22.2% in October compared with the same month in 2009. It represents the fourth consecutive monthly fall but was expected due to the withdrawal of the scrappage scheme. The SMMT said the number of new cars sold in the [...]
The Bank of England has revealed mortgage approvals fell for the fifth consecutive month in September. According to the Bank, there were 47,474 loans granted in the month – the lowest level since February. The figure continues to be well below the 60,000 reached in November 2009 as buyers took advantage of the stamp duty [...]
Japanese core private-sector machinery orders – a highly volatile series seen as an indicator of corporate spending – surged 10.1% in August – confounding expectations of a 4.5% fall. The increase in orders represented the third consecutive monthly rise, according to the Cabinet Office, and follows June’s 1.6% increase and July’s 8.8% growth. The surprise [...]
Germany’s statistics office, Destatis, today revealed exports fell 0.4% in August compared with July to €81.8 billion (£71.7 billion). It was the second consecutive month in which exports dropped and could raise doubts about the strength of the recovery in the euro zone’s largest economy. Export demand helped to bring Germany out of recession in [...]
Germany’s National statistics office, Destatis, today revealed a surprise fall in retail sales for the month of August. According to Destatis, retail sales in the euro zone’s largest economy fell 0.2% on the month – representing the second consecutive monthly fall, after July’s drop of 0.4%. The biggest falls were seen in food and drinks, [...]
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has today revealed Japan’s industrial output fell for the third month in a row in August, raising further fears about the strength of the economic recovery. Output fell 0.3% in August, way below analysts expectations of a 1.1% rise. The Ministry is forecasting production to fall 0.1% in [...]
The Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) closely watched quarterly Tankan survey has revealed business confidence continues to rise, despite concerns about a strong yen. The Tankan index revealed business confidence among major manufacturers had picked up for the sixth consecutive quarter, rising to a better than expected reading of 8 in September, from 1 in June. [...]
It appears the housing market is headed for a double dip after property website, Rightmove, reported a further fall in asking prices in September. According to Rightmove, asking prices for residential property in England and Wales fell by 1.1% in the 5 weeks to 11 September – the third consecutively monthly fall. It follows falls [...]
The Commerce Department has today announced a rise in US retail sales – the second consecutive monthly gain. Retail sales grew by 0.4% in August to a five-month high – better than analysts had expected. Sales were boosted by clothing and fuel. However, car sales fell 0.7% in the month after growing strongly over recent [...]
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has again elected to leave interest rates on hold at 4.5% after a series of aggressive rate hikes since October. It is the third consecutive month in which rates have been at this level but economists say the central bank will only leave rates on hold for the short-term. [...]
Official data from the Labor Department has today revealed that US consumer prices fell for the third consecutive month in June, by 0.1% on a monthly basis. The fall was attributed to declines in energy prices, which were down 2.9%, food prices remained flat. The fall in June followed declines of 0.1% and 0.2% in [...]
The Commerce Department today announced retail sales fell by 0.5% in June – the second consecutive monthly fall after a downwardly revised 1.1% fall in May. Sales were hit by a decline in sales of petrol and cars and were slightly worse than the 0.2% fall expected by analysts. Meanwhile, on an annual basis, sales [...]
Industrial production in the euro zone increased for the third month in a row in May. Industrial output rose by 0.9% from April and was 9.4% higher than in May 2009, according to European Union statistics agency Eurostat. However, the figures missed forecasts of a 1.3% monthly rise and an 11.3% annual gain. “May’s euro [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) today said its Pending Home Sales Index rose for the third consecutive month in April boosted by the expiration of a Government tax credit. The NAR said the index rose 6% in April – far exceeding the 4.3% rise which many analysts had predicted. However, the index is 22.4% [...]
According to the Commerce Department, consumer spending in the US rose for a fifth consecutive month in February, by 0.3%, as widely expected. The rise in consumer spending, which makes up for more than two-thirds of overall economic activity in the US, followed a revised 0.4% rise in January. According to the data, consumers increased [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has today revealed a further fall in sales of previously owned homes in the US for the month of February. The industry body said sales fell 0.6% in the month to an annual rate of 5.02 million units (an eight-month low), down from 5.05 million the previous month. February’s [...]
According to the Commerce Department, US consumer spending rose faster than expected in January by 0.5% – the fourth consecutive monthly rise. The rise in consumer spending, which makes up for more than two-thirds of overall economic activity in the US, was better than expectations of 0.4%. Meanwhile, the data said personal incomes crept up [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed a fall in sales of new homes in the US for the month of January – the third consecutive month that sales have fallen. According to the Commerce Department, new single-family home sales dived by 11.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 306,000 units – the lowest since [...]
The Spanish economy is still in recession after the economy contracted by 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2009 – the seventh consecutive quarter of contraction. The figures from the INE, the national statistics agency, show that Spain is now the last major economy still in recession. Meanwhile, on an annual basis, the economy shrank [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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