According to Knight Frank LLP, 59% of new-build property in London has been acquired by Asian buyers in the six month period to April. This is up from 48% a year earlier as buyers seek alternatives from rocketing property prices in China and Singapore. The estate agent said Asian buyers are taking advantage of the [...]
The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) December industrial trends survey today revealed further good news for the sector after overseas demand surged to a 15-year high. The pound gained following the news which revealed firms experiencing above normal demand from overseas was 4% – a significant improvement on the previous month’s -7% and the highest [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK’s trade deficit widened in July to a record high, as imports soared and exports fell. According to the ONS, the goods trade gap widened to £8.667 billion in July, up from £7.532 billion the previous month. The deficit was the biggest since the series [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed UK industrial output fell unexpectedly in June. According to the ONS, output fell 0.5% on the month against forecasts of a 0.2% rise. However, the fall was attributed to a 6% decline in oil and gas output. Following the announcement, the pound lost fell half a cent [...]
Rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) today affirmed its “AAA” long-term rating on Britain but maintained its negative outlook on the long-term rating. Following the news, the pound fell to $1.5017 from $1.5068. Commenting on its announcement, S&P analysts Trevor Cullinan and David Beers, said: “The coalition government has set out what we view as [...]
There are fresh concerns over the European banking sector after banks are scheduled to repay €442 billion (£362 billion) worth of loans to the European Central Bank (ECB) later this week. Shares in Europe hit a three-week closing low today as a result. Furthermore, shares were hit by a sharp fall in US consumer confidence [...]
Minutes of the Bank of England’s June meeting have been released today and have revealed that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 7-1 earlier this month to keep interest rates at the historic low of 0.5% – where they have been since March 2009. The usual nine-strong committee comprised of only eight members this month [...]
Despite Friday’s general election result, which failed to give any political party a clear majority, sterling has gained on the US dollar today, while London’s FTSE recovered from the sharp falls on Friday. The pound rose by nearly a cent against the dollar to $1.4865 but fell against the euro to 1.1510 euros. The pound [...]
Kate Sharp, chief executive of the Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA) believes last week’s hung parliament result could seriously hurt the UK’s economic recovery. According to many experts, the hung parliament result means that it will be harder to pass legislation and undermine a fragile UK recovery. Ms Sharp of ABFA comments: “The ABFA supports [...]
Official data has revealed the value of British exports grew by just 0.05%, or £28 million, in the final three months of 2009 compared with the same period a year earlier. The figures were a surprise since a weak pound should make UK goods cheaper abroad. Analysis of Government data by Close Treasury revealed that [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed UK industrial output unexpectedly fell in January – primarily due to the cold weather during the month. According to the ONS, output fell by 0.4% in January compared with the previous month and represented the largest monthly fall since August. Analysts had expected a 0.3% rise. However, [...]
Growing fears over the debt crisis in Greece continue to weaken the value of the euro and it sank further today to 1.3436 dollars – a level not seen since May 2009. Greece is currently taking action to reduce its public deficit from 12% to 8% of GDP this year. The country currently has the [...]
The pound dived to a low not seen since May 2009 today over debt fears in the euro zone. It was the fourth consecutive day of losses and the pound fell to $1.5535 in early London trade – an 8½ month low. The losses came as investors worry about how euro zone economies (including Greece [...]
The latest quarterly SME Trends Survey by the CBI has found that small and medium-sized manufacturers are starting to stabilise after seven quarters of decline. According to the business body, manufacturers are starting to benefit from the weakness of the pound, which has fallen slightly against the US dollar over the last few months. The [...]
The pound fell this morning after quarter four GDP figures were weaker than expected. While official figures showed that the UK has finally emerged from recession in the fourth quarter, the economy only grew 0.1% – an expansion of 0.4% had been expected. The pound fell to $1.614 against the US dollar – a fall [...]
The pound gained ground against the euro yesterday as US food giant Kraft announced its takeover of British confectioner Cadbury. The pound rose to a four-month high to 1.1477 euros as the takeover reflected the attraction of overseas companies investing in the UK, according to analysts. Furthermore, higher than expected inflation figures boosted the prospect [...]
Minutes of the Bank of England’s October meeting have been released today and have revealed that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously this month to keep interest rates at the historic low of 0.5%. Furthermore, the MPC voted 9-0 to leave its quantitative easing programme unchanged at £175 billion and said it would not [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Gender directive could slash men’s annuity payouts
The EU Gender Directive, which came into force today, could see men losing up to £10,000 from their annuity payouts, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Under the new rules insurers are no longer allowed to take gender into account when setting annuity rates and premiums on insurance products. Men previously enjoyed higher annuity rates than [...]
Home rental costs down in November
The cost of renting a house in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent in November, its first dip since March, according to a survey by LSL Property Services. Average rent was £741m during the month, returning to the level seen in September. However, it was 3.4 per higher than in November last year. [...]
Lloyds TSB halts sale of packaged accounts in branches
Lloyds TSB will stop selling packaged account in its branches from 1 January 2013, until its sales procedures are brought into line with those operated by sister bank The Halifax. Lloyds TSB is one of the main providers of packaged accounts in Britain, with around one in three of its customers choosing to pay fees [...]
Housing market recovery to continue next year
Recent improvements in the housing market should continue into next year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Gross lending is estimated to have increased to £12.9 billion in November, helped by the Funding for Lending scheme which provides banks and building societies with lower-cost funding, which they are then supposed to pass on [...]
Newcastle Building Society exits interest-only mortgages
Newcastle Building Society has stopped offering interest-only mortgages to new borrowers, following the lead of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide, Co-operative bank and Coventry Building Society. The decision will not affect existing Newcastle customers and applications for interest-only mortgages received before 14 December will still be processed. Prior to the credit crunch, interest-only mortgages [...]
Less than half of Brits considered creditworthy
Fifty-seven per cent of UK adults are at risk of having an application for credit turned down by a mainstream lender according to a new report. The ‘Mind the Credit Gap‘ report commissioned by aqua credit cards suggests that even people with a good credit rating and earning more than £50,000 could have a credit [...]
Monthly incomes £22 lower in 2012
The average monthly income of UK households fell by £22 in real terms compared with last year, according to a survey carried out for the Bank of England (BoE) by NMG Consulting. People on lower incomes have seen their income eroded more than higher earners and households still have high levels of debt the BoE [...]
Savers dig deep to fund Christmas
New research from the Halifax suggests that savers are funding their Christmas spending with money set aside for other purposes. Thirty-seven per cent of 2,138 savers surveyed by the bank at the end of November had withdrawn savings in the last three months. The average amount withdrawn was £1,186, more than double the average savings [...]
Financial data at risk from unsafe passwords
According to a survey by the Payments Council the problem of having to remember a different password for several accounts means that many internet users are compromising the security of their financial data. Internet users have 22 password-protected accounts on average and many use the same log-in details for more than one account, even though [...]
Wonga launches Paylater loans on retailer website
Payday loan company Wonga has launched a new Paylater service on furniture firm Cotswold Company’s website. The service, which allows customers to “buy now, pay later” will be introduced on other retailers’ sites in the near future. Although the Paylater branding is similar to Wonga’s, the Wonga name only appears in the small print. A [...]
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