The Commerce Department has today revealed the US economy grew by an annualised 2.6% in the July to September period – slightly higher than the second estimate of 2.5% but much faster than the first estimate of 2%. However, the growth rate was less than the 3% most analysts had expected. Today’s estimate is the [...]
Minutes of the Bank of England’s December meeting have been released today and have revealed that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) were split three ways – for the third consecutive month. Adam Posen, again, called for an injection of £50 billion via the Bank’s quantitative easing (QE) programme to boost the economy. Furthermore, for the [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK economy grew by 0.7% in the July to September period – down from its previous estimate of 0.8%. On an annual basis, meanwhile, growth was also revised down to 2.7% from 2.8%. Both figures surprised economists who had expected quarterly and annual growth to [...]
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has again revised its forecasts for the airline industry. According to the industry body, global airlines will make a profit of $15.1 billion (£9.5 billion) this year. The figure is 70% higher than its previous forecast made in September and significantly better than its anticipated loss of $2.8 billion [...]
The Halifax has today revealed UK house prices fell by 0.1% last month compared with October. The latest house price fall takes the average cost of a UK home to £164,708, the Halifax said. According to the lender, which is now part of the Lloyds Banking Group, buyer demand continues to be weak amid economic [...]
In its half-yearly health assessment of the financial system, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said it is concerned about the global financial system. The crisis in the European sovereign debt markets has meant the prospects for global stability have been pushed back, said the IMF. The crisis is Europe has recently been exacerbated by [...]
Growth in the UK’s closely-watched service sector slowed in June and hit its lowest level in 10 months. The latest index from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS)/Markit PMI showed a reading of 54.4 in June, down from 55.4 in May. Not only did this represent the lowest level since August last year, [...]
US consumer confidence took a dive in June after rising for three consecutive months. The closely-monitored Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board plummeted to 52.9 in June, down from a revised 62.7 in May. June’s figure was short of analysts forecasts of 62 and remains far away from the 90 points required to show [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed the US economy grew by an annualised 2.7% in the January to March period – slightly lower than the 3.2% previously estimated. This figure is the third and final estimate and the downward revision was due to a slower rate of business investment and consumer spending. However, it still [...]
Chancellor George Osborne will unveil his emergency budget next week and tax hikes are expected. However, according to business group, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), “punishing” tax rises could hit economic growth. A rise in capital gains tax (CGT) is expected. This is the levy firms or individuals pay on the profit gained from [...]
G20 finance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s top 20 developed and emerging economies have met in South Korea this weekend and have said excessive budget deficits should be dealt with immediately. The agenda was believed to be discussing the need for common standards across financial markets, including a global bank tax – [...]
General Electric (GE) has revealed a poor performance between the July and September period as the US conglomerate’s finance arm was hit hard by the economic downturn. The group, which is seen as barometer of US economic health, reported earnings of $2.5 billion (£1.5 billion) for the quarter, compared with $4.3 billion in the same [...]
The Dow Jones index rose today on the back of positive economic data and followed gains seen over the last week. In seven out of the last eight days, the Dow Jones has risen. By mid-session in New York, the index gained 0.6% to 9,737.3 points with European shares rising in response. London’s FTSE 100 [...]
Positive economic news and hopes of a global recovery boosted the FTSE 100 again today after the index soared to a ten-month high and smashed through the 4,900 mark. The gains followed those seen in Asia earlier today, which were spurred on by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments last Friday. Mr Bernanke’s comments came [...]
British Airways (BA), which recently admitted was fighting for its survival, has today announced plans to raise £600 million. In May, the airline reported a pre-tax loss of £401 million for the 12 months to the end of March, compared with profits of £922 million the previous year. The loss represented the biggest since the [...]
The US Federal Reserve has slashed its economic forecast for this year with a fall of between 0.5% and 1.5% expected. The forecast has been revised downwards after the Fed said in October it anticipated output of between a shrinkage of 0.2% and growth of 1.1%. Meanwhile, the Fed’s Chairman, Ben Bernanke, said they are [...]
President Barack Obama’s $819 billion (£572 billion) economic stimulus package has been approved by the US House of Representatives. The President hopes to sign the package into law in February and said the package includes $275 billion in tax cuts, including a credit worth $500 dollars for each worker and $1,000 for couples. However, the [...]
Banking and insurance group, ING, is set to shed 7,000 positions from its workforce as it looks to save €1 billion (£949 million), as a result of challenging economic conditions. The job losses represent 5.4% of its 130,000 workforce but the Dutch firm has not given details yet as to where the jobs will be [...]
US and European shares have plummeted today due to fears of the US economy and a slowing Eurozone. Official figures revealed that unemployment increased to a five-year high as jobs are being slashed due to the global economic downturn. The US Labour Department said the number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits increased by 15,000 to [...]
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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