Ill-designed European Union risks fixed-rate mortgage lending in the UK August 20, 2015 Fixed rate mortgages are massively popular with consumers, 68 per cent of all mortgage products from building societies in the first half of 2015 were fixed rate. With the narrative from the Bank of England hinting that the base rate will start to rise later this year or early 2016, the drive from the public [...]
Commodity chaos hammers the FTSE following Glencore share price slump August 20, 2015 Shares in Glencore tumbled nearly 10 per cent to a record low The FTSE 100 sank to its lowest level since January yesterday after mining behemoth Glencore failed to reassure investors with its response to a global slump in the price of metals. Shares in Glencore tumbled nearly 10 per cent to a [...]
London City Airport expansion plans stay grounded following Mayor Boris Johnson’s U-turn August 20, 2015 The battle for London City Airport is heating up. Less than a month has passed since its owners Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and Oaktree Capital put the site to the east of the capital up for sale with a price tag of around £2bn. But already two heavyweight bidders have emerged, including one of the [...]
Federal Reserve is “approaching” rate hike: Members say they need more evidence of wage growth first August 19, 2015 Minutes from the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting offered no indication that the central bank intends to raise interest rates in September. Read more: Hiking rates in September could be an error of historic proportions by the US Fed With uncertainty remaining over wage growth and inflation, the officials “generally agreed” that more information [...]
FTSE 100 closes at its lowest level in seven months August 19, 2015 Today, the FTSE 100 closed at 6,403 – its lowest value in over seven months. The last time it fell below this was 14 January, when it finished the day at 6,388. Read more: FTSE 100 gives up gains for the year Mining companies suffered the most, with shares in Rio Tinto, Anglo American [...]
Over three quarters of UK households anticipate the Bank of England to increase interest rates in the next 12 months August 19, 2015 Over three quarters of UK households expect the Bank of England (BoE) to raise the interest rate in the next 12 months, according to the Markit Household Finance Index. The August survey indicated UK households are continuing to bring forward expectations regarding the next interest rate rise by the Bank of England. Read more: Super [...]
Sir Howard Davies defends Airports Commission recommendation against Gatwick criticism August 19, 2015 Sir Howard Davies has hit back against criticism of his conclusion that Heathrow should build a third runway by Gatwick chief Stewart Wingate. In a statement today by Airports Commission chair Davies, who was the subject of a 50-page catalogue of criticisms published by Gatwick yesterday, Davies gave a withering response. "This dossier appears to [...]
Oil prices set for long-term slump as WTI price forecast lowered through 2016 August 19, 2015 Oil companies should brace themselves: the black stuff's slump is set to be long-term, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), which just lowered its oil price forecast through to the end of next year. Although prices rallied briefly yesterday on bullish US economic data, the EIA thinks this recovery is unlikely to last. [...]
Construction drop casts more doubt on Eurozone growth August 19, 2015 The Eurozone's construction sector stumbled in June, with output down 1.9 per cent compared with May. On the year, construction was down 2.4 per cent, according to the figures released this morning by Eurostat. The sharpest monthly fall in the 19-member currency-bloc was in Germany at 4.5 per cent, which was followed by France. Greece [...]
Over-qualified and under-employed: The majority of graduates are “in non-graduate jobs”, says the CIPD August 19, 2015 New graduates are being massively under-employed when they try to join the labour market, with thousands taking their first step in their career in jobs that don't require their hard-won degrees, a new study has found. The research, by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), found graduate over-qualification has reached “saturation point”, with [...]