It has emerged that Britain’s five largest banks have agreed to bonus terms set out by the world’s leading nations at last week’s G20 summit. The five UK banks that have accepted the curbs on bonuses are Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered. Under the new terms set out at last week’s summit, up [...]
Today the world’s largest economy received a boost after the Commerce Department revealed that the US economy shrank at a far slower rate in the second quarter than previous estimates showed. According to the Commerce Department, the US economy contracted by 0.7% between the April and June period rather than the 1% previously reported and [...]
The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Global Financial Stability Report has provided a positive assessment of the global economy. It has cut its amount likely to be written off globally in bad loans and investments by $600 billion to $3.4 trillion (£2.1 trillion). According to the IMF, co-ordinated efforts by Governments and Central Banks have helped [...]
European equities markets were lower Wednesday after a measure of manufacturing activity in the Midwest United States showed a decline into contraction in September. The Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped to 46.1 in September, against an expected rise to 52 after being at 50 in August. The FTSE 100 was 0.5 percent lower to 5,133.9 [...]
Eurostat today announced that consumer prices fell in the euro zone in September by a faster rate than they had in the previous month. Furthermore, prices fell further than had been expected by economists after Eurostat said the inflation rate fell to -0.3% in the 12 months to September, from -0.2% in the year to [...]
Hopes of an early exit from the recession today boosted the US after the Commerce Department revealed that the world’s no.1 economy shrank at a far slower rate in the second quarter than previous estimates showed. According to the Commerce Department, the US economy contracted by 0.7% between the April and June period rather than [...]
HSBC is boosting the UK mortgage market with extra cash for buyers with a 10% deposit. The bank is promising to increase mortgage lending in this category by £500 million, taking its total commitment for 2009 to £1.5 billion. The move will be particularly helpful to first-time buyers, many of whom have been excluded from [...]
Marks and Spencer (M&S), which is Britain’s largest clothing retailer, has reported a strong performance by recording its best quarter for two years. The retailing industry overall has suffered in the wake of the economic downturn as consumers rein in their spending. However, today the retailer said like-for-like sales in the UK (which exclude new [...]
UK employees are blasé about their pension fund because they struggle to see how the money saved is relevant to their current life. Research by Baring Asset Management found nearly half (48%) of Britain’s workforce have never checked their pension plan since opening the policy. The study corroborates recent findings by Lincoln Financial Group that [...]
The lack of mortgages available to first time buyers is bumping up rents as would-be homeowners struggle to get a foot on the housing ladder, an industry expert claimed. Nicholas Leeming, director of propertyfinder.com, said the credit crunch is good news for landlords because it will inflate their income. “Rent levels have been recovering in [...]
European equities markets were mixed Tuesday, while Asia-Pacific region markets were mostly higher but US markets were lower by midday. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.12 percent to 5,159.72 in London, but the FTSE 250 added 0.5 percent to 9,215.57 on the session. Insurers were higher in London, led by Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) with [...]
Dairy Crest has become the latest company to announce it will close its final salary pension scheme to existing members, having closed the scheme to new employees in 2006. The group, which is one of the UK’s largest milk firms and makes brands such as Country Life and Clover butter, Davidstow cheese and Frijj flavoured [...]
Despite positive comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that the US recession is very likely over and President Barack Obama saying the economy is improving, it seems US consumers are not sharing their optimism after confidence fell unexpectedly in September. The closely-monitored Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board fell from a revised 54.5 [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed that the UK economy contracted by 0.6% in the April to June period – rather than the 0.7% previously reported and the 0.8% reported prior to that. The latest revision comes as the manufacturing and construction sectors performed better than originally thought and brings further hope [...]
New mortgage lending fell back in August, according to the latest Trends in Lending report from the Bank of England. Approvals for house purchase loans stuck at 52,317, compared to 52,404, in July. The dip represents the first fall in new mortgage approvals since November of last year, when the number of homebuyer loans sanctioned [...]
Camera retailer Jessops has today secured a deal that will save the company. The struggling retailer has been hit by a shift to digital photography and the economic downturn which has meant it has been fighting to survive. The company, which trades from more than 200 stores in the UK, is undertaking a solvent restructure [...]
There are fears of long-term deflation in the world’s second largest economy after official figures revealed August core consumer prices fell at a record rate of 2.4% compared with a year ago. It was the fourth consecutive month of record falls and the figures have raised fears that the economy could see a long period [...]
European and US equities markets were helped to gains Monday by mergers news that included purchases by US companies Xerox Corp (NYSE: XRX), Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). The new acquisitions were seen as a sign that the global economy is recovering. The FTSE 100 was 1.64 percent higher to [...]
Business Secretary Lord Peter Mandelson has confirmed this afternoon that the scrappage scheme will be extended to cover an additional 100,000 cars and vans. The scheme branded ‘cash for bangers’, which was launched on 18 May, was originally intended to allow 300,000 cars to be traded in. The £300 million initiative was expected to run [...]
New figures from the Land Registry show house prices in England and Wales remaining largely flat in August with an average 0.1% fall across the regions, when compared to July. The news follows a rally in July when prices put on an average 1.7%, compared with June, marking the biggest monthly increase since July 2004. [...]
CBI: Decline in retail sales slows in October
According to the latest Confederation of British Industry (CBI) distributive trades survey, the fall in retail sales slowed in October, but only a modest rise in volumes is expected next month. Consumers continue to be cautious about the economic outlook and rein in their spending on the back of rising unemployment, higher inflation and slow [...]
Euro zone leaders agree to deal
Following a tense summit in Brussels last night, it has been announced that euro zone leaders have reached a deal which they say will help resolve the growing debt crisis in the 17-member nation. The deal will see the euro zone’s main bailout fund expanded to €1 trillion, while banks will accept a loss of [...]
Policymaker says another recession is likely
Bank of England policymaker Paul Fisher has today said Britain is likely to suffer another recession. His comments come just a few days after fellow Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member, Martin Weale, warned that a contraction in the fourth quarter is possible. Returning to Mr Fisher, he was asked how likely a double dip recession [...]
US economic growth rises in Q3
The world’s largest economy expanded at its fastest pace in a year in the three months to the end of September, official figures revealed today. According to the Commerce Department, the US economy grew at an annualised rate of 2.5% in the third quarter of this year. The figure was in line with forecasts but [...]
CBI: Confidence among manufacturers slump
According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), confidence among UK manufacturing firms has slumped as a result of the debt crisis in the euro zone, as well as a fall in expectations for future growth. The latest industrial trends survey by the employers’ group established that 30% more businesses were pessimistic about the future [...]
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