Global stock markets were rocked yesterday with the news that euro zone banks may face funding difficulties after it was revealed that the European Central Bank (ECB) would not be offering 12-month loans. A year ago, the ECB was forced to offer European banks 12-month loans at low interest rates to help them survive the [...]
A survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) today revealed a mixed June for retail sales with footwear stores hit but food and electrical retailers experienced good growth. According to the CBI’s monthly distributive trades survey, over one third of retailers reported a rise in the volume of sales during the first two weeks [...]
US consumer confidence recovered in March after taking a dive in February. The closely-monitored Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board rose to 52.5 in March, up from the 46.4 reading in the previous month. However, despite the rise, the index still remains far away from the 90 points required to show that the world’s [...]
The euro has recovered from a 10-month low today after the two-day EU summit, which commenced in Brussels yesterday, saw a deal reached to help Greece through its debt crisis. According to Brussels, the package will total €22 billion (£20 billion) and will include help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). So far the euro [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed a 1.9% rise in UK retail sales in February compared with January. Retail sales in January saw a significant fall due to the severe wintry weather which hit most parts of the country during the month. Consequently, today’s strong result was expected following suppressed sales in January [...]
A report has found benefit claimants owe a staggering £1.85 billion in overpayments but less than £300 million a year is being recouped. As a result, the public accounts committee is calling for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to step up its efforts to recovery the monies. According to the report, over 30,000 [...]
The UK’s closely-watched service sector recovered in February after experiencing a dip in January as a result of bad weather disrupting services, as well as the VAT rise. The latest activity index from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS)/Markit PMI showed a reading of 58.4 in February, up from 54.5 in January. Any [...]
The Greek Government has today unveiled a new series of measures aimed at tackling the country’s debt problems, which has resulted in the euro recovering 0.3% to $1.3637. Growing fears over the debt crisis in Greece have weakened the value of the euro in recent weeks as Greece takes action to reduce its public deficit [...]
The John Lewis Partnership, which is seen as a barometer of British retailing, today announced that takings recovered slightly in the week to 16 January compared with the previous week when heavy snowfall affected much of the country. In the week to 16 January, sales were up 11.1% on the same period a year ago. [...]
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has today revealed that the unemployment rate in its member countries has crept up from 8.5% in July to 8.6% in August, up from 6.3% in August 2008. The OECD, which includes 30 territories such as the US, Australia, Japan, Canada, New Zealand and European countries, is [...]
Minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting have revealed that policymakers are optimistic that the US downturn is coming to an end. However, the minutes did say that the economy is “likely to recover only slowly during the second half of this year and all saw it as still vulnerable to adverse shocks.” Furthermore, policymakers [...]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued an upbeat forecast for the British economy today with the prediction that it will return to growth next year. The IMF is predicting that the UK’s worst slump since the Second World War will be over by the end of the year and is predicting growth of 0.2%, [...]
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 [...]
While Nationwide and Halifax are apparently too coy to give any house price forecasts for 2009, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has stunned the market by predicting that prices will not recover to their 2007 peak for at least a decade. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the fund manager’s economist, Tim Drayson, says he [...]
It is believed that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this week, which has boosted shares worldwide following a severe decline earlier this week on fears of a global recession. The Fed is widely expected to cut rates by half a percentage point to 1%. This resulted in a sharp rise on Wall [...]
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 [...]
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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Asian shares recover after Fed comments
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke yesterday allayed investor fears after saying the US economy appeared to have enough momentum to avoid a “double-dip” recession. Mr Bernanke also said he believes European leaders are taking the right steps to ensure the survival of the euro. “European leadership is strongly committed to doing whatever is necessary to [...]