South Korea’s central bank has today elected to lift interest rates in order tame high inflation. The move surprised analysts after the bank held interest rates last month and inflation fell to 4.1% in May, after reaching a 29-month high of 4.7% in March. Inflation remains at the higher end of the central bank’s 2%-4% [...]
The former “Celtic Tiger” economy is sending jitters throughout the euro zone today after borrowing costs surged to record highs. Rumours of financial aid for the economy increased and come just months after Greece’s debt crisis. However, claims that Ireland will have to turn to the EU rescue fund have been denied but developments are [...]
A hung parliament would not necessarily be bad news for the UK economy, a number of financial experts have claimed. Melanie Baker, economist at Morgan Stanley, said because all the parties have a similar approach to the economy, a coalition government is likely to quickly agree on reducing the deficit. “The ultimate policy outcomes may [...]
The US Federal Reserve stunned markets by raising its discount rate (the interest rate it charges banks for emergency loans) by 25bps to 0.75%. The news sent the pound down to its lowest level against the US dollar in nine months, while Asian equity markets reacted cautiously as they digested the news. Furthermore, the euro [...]
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 [...]
Global shares have plummeted this morning on the news that some of the world’s largest economies are bracing themselves for recession. Reports that unemployment in the UK soared by 164,000 to 1.79 million in the three months to August, are adding to fears, as well as the news that retail sales in the US fell [...]
Yesterday, the continued uncertainty in the markets resulted in the Dow Jones index falling 678.9 points to 8579.2, its biggest percentage drop since October 1987. Today, stock markets in Asia followed suit after Tokyo’s Nikkei-225 index shed 9.6% and saw its biggest fall in a single session since Black Monday in October 1987. At the [...]
Yesterday, several central banks including the Bank of England, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the US Federal Reserve announced they were to cut interest rates by half a percentage point in an attempt to boost the economy. However, the markets failed to respond to the news after London’s FTSE 100 closed down 5.18%, France’s [...]
The Bank of England announced its decision on interest rates a day early today following another eventful week on the financial markets. The Bank of England cut rates by half a percentage point from 5% to 4.5%, the last time this occurred was in September 2001. Rates have remained at 5% since April in a [...]
Global shares have received a boost this morning after reports of a proposal by the US Government to deal with the financial crisis. Henry Paulson, US Treasury Secretary, and Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, are investigating the possibility of setting up a repository for bad bank, according to a report by CNBC. CNBC [...]
Lloyds TSB has revealed the terms of its £12.2 billion takeover of HBOS which could result in thousands of job losses. However, Lloyds has described the deal as a unique opportunity and values HBOS shares at 232p each. HBOS shareholders will receive 0.83 Lloyds shares for every HBOS share. There is speculation that the deal [...]
Insurance giant, AIG, has been bailed out by the US Federal Reserve after an $85 billion (£48 billion) rescue package The news has been welcomed by global stock markets after two days of panic selling following the collapse of US investment banking giant, Lehman Brothers. There were fears that AIG was heading the same way [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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