The price of gold continues to rise after reaching an all-time high today of $1,167.35 an ounce. Spot gold was bid at $1,165.55 an ounce at 0800 GMT, against $1,148.20 late in New York last Friday. US gold futures for December delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $19.20 to [...]
Australia’s economy, which is one of the few not to have fallen into recession like its counterparts throughout the world, created more jobs than expected in October, sending the Australian dollar to a 15-month high. Employment within the economy rose 24,500 during the month – the second month of growth. According to Rob Henderson, head [...]
Over the weekend, G20 finance ministers at St Andrews in Fife reached an agreement to maintain financial support until recovery is ensured. The agreement was reached following concerns over rising unemployment and unsteady growth which saw finance ministers from developing and rich countries vow to keep fiscal measures in place until global recovery is assured. [...]
The price of gold reached $1,058 (£659.20) an ounce on the London Bullion Market yesterday – its third consecutive day of gains. A weak US dollar continues to make gold an attractive buy for investors, according to analysts. Furthermore, the price of the precious metal could continue to rise if the dollar remains weak. Traditionally, [...]
The yen hit 88.23 against the dollar today – the highest level since January when the currency hit a 13-year high of 87.10 per dollar. However, while a strong yen is good news for the economy, it makes Japanese exports less competitive – but means imports are more affordable to Japanese consumers. Earlier this month, [...]
Sterling fell this morning to a near four-month low to $1.5917 against the US dollar before creeping back up to $1.5989. The level was the lowest seen since early June after G20 leaders said stimulus packages will remain until a recovery is sustainable. However, the pound is still currently higher than the low levels of [...]
A warning from the Bank of England about the UK’s debt levels has sent sterling plummeting to a five-month low against the euro. The pound dropped as low as €1.1016 – the lowest level since April In the meantime, the pound dropped as low as $1.6134 – its lowest against the US Dollar in almost [...]
There are tentative signs that the construction sector is recovering after figures today revealed that the slowdown in activity eased in July to the slowest pace for sixteen months. The CIPS/Markit Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index posted a reading of 47 in July, edging closer to the 50 mark which indicates growth. The index is up [...]
Optimism surrounding the UK economy continued today after the pound continued its gain against the US dollar. Sterling briefly reached as high as $1.7005 today – the highest level since October – before falling back to $1.6930. While the pound still has a long way to go to reach the $2 mark seen a year [...]
Sterling and the FTSE 100 index of leading shares both rose today on the back of growing hopes for an economic recovery. The FTSE jumped by 76.85 points to 4,685.21 – the highest level since October with Barclays and HSBC leading the banking sector after reporting first half profits earlier today. Meanwhile, sterling climbed to [...]
With suggestions that the UK recession may be coming to an end, sterling hit a 2009 high against the euro today. According to Reuters, sterling rose to 85.10 pence against the euro – its best performance since December. Sterling was also up against the US dollar, rising one cent to $1.6429. Sterling has been boosted [...]
Stockmarkets have been hit today by the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico sending airline and travel stocks plummeting while pharmaceutical companies including GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Shire and Smith & Nephew have soared. In London, the FTSE 100 index was down 60 points in early trading with the biggest losers including TUI, British Airways and Thomas [...]
Sterling rose to its highest level against the US dollar today in three months after the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) announced that housing market activity is picking up after new enquiries increased for the fifth month in a row. At one point, sterling reached as high as $1.5037 and also hit a six-week [...]
Just a few days before the G20 summit in London, China has placed even more pressure on world leaders to amend the global financial system. China has not been as affected as most of the other G20 nations but the country is pushing hard for changes due to a loss of confidence in the current [...]
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned that the UK economy will contract at nearly double the rate previously forecast this year. The organisation said that the deteriorating global economy, together with a rise in unemployment and the ongoing difficulties that UK firms are facing in accessing credit will drive the economy deeper into [...]
The pound’s rally against the euro and the dollar has not been dampened by last week’s 0.5% base rate cut, according to currency analysts. Marc Cogliatti, a currency strategist at HiFX, said the pound has strengthened almost 12% against the euro since the start of this year, despite two base rate cuts. Cogliatti said: “The [...]
Despite the bad news surrounding the economy this week, bank shares have recovered today following two weeks of heavy falls in the sector. Following decent increases yesterday, shares in Barclays were up 12% to 99p earlier today, following a 73% surge yesterday. Shares in the bank closed today at 89p. However, shares in Barclays are [...]
The British pound plunged to a 7½ year low against the US dollar yesterday amid concerns about the state of the UK banking sector. Plummeting to below $1.40, the pound hit its weakest rate against the dollar since 2001. Analysts suggested the latest bail-out of British banks prompted a pound sell-off, whilst others blamed the [...]
Sterling has fallen to a fresh low of 98.05p against the euro suggesting that the outlook for the UK economy is worse than previously thought. Meanwhile, at one point today, Sterling also fell against the dollar to its lowest level since April 2002. However, the currency later recovered to $1.4484. The fall in the value [...]
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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Fed chief comments boost dollar
US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told a press conference at the Fed’s Washington headquarters yesterday that monetary policy will need to be tightened when the economy recovers in order “to prevent the emergence of an inflation problem down the road.” Following the press conference, many analysts said the Fed chairman is suggesting that the [...]