London house prices: Londoners need a 266 per cent pay rise to be able to afford a property in the capital February 23, 2016 Londoners need a 266 per cent pay rise to be able to afford a mortgage on a home in the capital, a leading industry body has claimed, painting a bleak picture for prospective buyers. The National Housing Federation (NHF), which represents affordable housing providers, said the average London home now costs £526,085 – more than [...]
UK house prices: the number of mortgage products soars to eight-year high in January February 23, 2016 Fierce competition between lenders has seen the number mortgage products available to homebuyers balloon to a near-eight-year high in January, new figures show. The Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) has counted 17,132 products on the market in January, which is 34 per cent ahead of the 12,771 products available in January last year and the highest [...]
UK house prices: Homeowners rush to remortgage in January as activity reaches highest level in seven years February 23, 2016 Remortgaging activity has bounced back in January to reach its highest level in seven years as homeowners take advantage of a surge in mortgage products being offered at record low rates. Remortgage lending surged by 49 per cent to £6.2bn in January from £4.2bn in December and was 45 per cent ahead of the same [...]
BHP Billiton cuts dividend and profits slides as it battles commodity rout February 22, 2016 Mining giant BHP Billiton has cut its dividend as it struggles to maintain its A-grade ratting in the midst of its biggest ever profit slump. The company scrapped its pledge to keep its dividend steady or rising, slashing the dividend by 74 per cent. Dividend per share has been cut from 62 cents to 16 [...]
Sainsbury’s granted extended deadline of 18 March to make new bid for Argos owner Home Retail Group February 22, 2016 Sainsbury's has been given an extended deadline to make a new bid for Argos owner Home Retail Group. The supermarket group has until 5pm on 18 March to make a new offer for the company, almost four weeks from now. Home Retail's shares closed up 12.96 per cent today at 173.5p, after a rival bidder [...]
At the close: FTSE 100 index closes higher as the oil price rises with banks’ and miners’ share prices including Anglo American and Glencore rising despite housebuilders and HSBC’s share price falling February 22, 2016 The FTSE 100 index closed higher today after the price of oil rose and there was a bounce-back in mining companies and banking shares. The UK's blue-chip index rose 1.47 per cent to 6,037 points, led higher by Glencore and Anglo American. "Rallying commodity prices from crude oil to copper have boosted the beaten up [...]
Metal prices soar on fears of supply shortage: Zinc, iron ore, copper all climb higher February 22, 2016 Fears over a supply shortage have pushed up the price of base metals, with zinc hitting four month highs. On the London Metal Exchange (LME) the price of three-month zinc hit an intraday peak of $1,790 a tonne, up over two per cent, the highest price since late October. It closed at $1,781 a tonne, after [...]
UK North Sea explorer First Oil Expro goes into administration due to decline in brent crude price February 22, 2016 First Oil Expro, an Aberdeen-based UK North Sea oil explorer, has gone into administration. Two other oil companies, Enquest and Cairn Energy, have taken on the company's 15 per cent stake in the Kraken North Sea oil field. Enquest will now have a 70.5 per cent holding and Cairan 29.5 per cent. Parent company First [...]
Supply glut will keep oil prices down into next year, says IEA February 22, 2016 The global oil market will start rebalancing in 2017, but the supply glut will hold down prices, according to the International Energy Agency. "Only in 2017 will we finally see oil supply and demand aligned but the enormous stocks being accumulated will act as a dampener on the pace of recovery in oil prices when [...]
EU referendum uncertainty (and Boris Johnson) sends pound to seven-year low against the dollar February 22, 2016 Who knew Bojo had such influence over markets? The pound has gone into free fall today, showing its biggest one-day fall against the dollar in more than a year, as uncertainty over the EU referendum began to take hold. The pound fell more than 1.5 per cent against the dollar this morining, dropping as low as [...]
