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May 28, 2008
by Peter Charalambous
Last month, UK mortgage approvals fell as property values remain uncertain and less attractive loan deals and their reduced supply, has meant that the demand to property has reduced.
A report by the British Bankers' Association (BBA) has showed that potential buyers have been put off by the uncertainty of the market, and in a time of reduced consumer confidence and increased inflation ...
by Peter Charalambous
After six straight falls, Italian business confidence has increased as production looks to be more prosperous, as well as an overall increase in orders, which all reflects positively on Silvio Berlusconi’s new government.
The ISAE think-tank's confidence index increased to 89.6 from April's 87.6.
Italy's economy, which is the third largest in the euro zone, has experienced a growth of just 0.2 percent, ...
by Peter Charalambous
HSBC chief executive officer, Michael Geoghegan, said at an informal shareholders meeting that the bank may see further losses in its US mortgage loan business.
Although there is an expectation that the mortgage business will recover, although no specific time frame was given.
In the first quarter of 2008, the sub-prime provisions were slowing, although it seems that this will not ...
by Peter Charalambous
The pound has fallen against major currencies as the UK housing market is in the process of deepening, as properties are taking longer to turnover.
The British pound is at a 4-day low against the Swiss franc and 5-day lows against the dollar and the euro.
There was a direct trigger between the pound and the property market following a report ...
by Peter Charalambous
Americans have become more concerned over their jobs and are pessimistic over business conditions. This has been reflected in the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index which fell by 14.4 percent compared to last year. The index has now declined for five months in a row.
The Consumer Confidence Index is a weighted average of how consumers feel about the economy now and ...
May 27, 2008
by Elaine Frei
The pound weakened on Tuesday as separate reports showed that over one-fifth of home buyers with bad credit fell behind on their mortgage payments in the first quarter and that UK home prices fell for the eighth month in a row in May.
At nearly noon in New York, it took $1.9756 to buy a pound while the UK currency traded at 79.59 ...
by Peter Charalambous
The Commerce Department have released a report that has forecast that new home sales have fallen this month for the sixth consecutive month, indicating that the market has yet to reach rock bottom.
New home sales have fallen by 0.6 percent from March, as 520,000 units were sold which is the fewest since September 1991.
Consumer confidence, especially in the housing market, is ...
by Peter Charalambous
The European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet said that the economic shocks from the credit crisis and inflation pressures are still to be fully felt, which is part of the reason why the ECB is not reaching their inflationary targets.
However Trichet also cast light onto the fact that fault may also lie with the inflationary targets themselves.
A chief analyst has described ...
by Peter Charalambous
South Africa's economy grew at the slowest pace in more than six years as the first quarter grow reduced to an annualized 2.1 percent, which is down from 5.3 percent from the last three months of 2007, caused mainly due to the power shortage which drastically reduced output in the mining industry.
However on an unadjusted basis, South Africa's ...
by Peter Charalambous
The GfK consumer climate survey fell to 4.9 points for June from a revised 5.6 figure for May, even though analysts indicated towards a 5.8 figure for June.
The reason for the slump is mainly due to the fact that rising inflation in the month has affected consumer confidence, as the economic outlook has been made bleak by inflationary fears.
The record high petrol ...
by Peter Charalambous
The euro zone's third-largest economy expanded by 0.4 percent in the first three months of this year whilst consumer spending fell 0.2 percent.
The Italian economy has been struggling behind the rest of Europe for more than ten years as a result of huge debt and low labour productivity making companies less competitive.
Political stability as a result of Berlusconi's return to power has ...
by Peter Charalambous
Chile's economy grew by 3 percent in the first quarter compared to last year’s 6.2 percent and is slower than a 4 percent rise predicted by Bloomberg estimates.
Despite the fact that Chile is experiencing energy shortages and high inflation as well as lower consumption, investment still continues to pour into the country.
Economic activities and industrial production have been affected as companies are ...
by Peter Charalambous
In the aftermath of the credit crunch, both business services and construction industries have been affected, resulting in the UK economy growing at its slowest pace since 2005, whilst gross domestic product rose 0.4 percent to March.
Business services such as accountancy and advertising expanded at their slowest pace for five years as many firms have cut back on ...
May 23, 2008
by Peter Charalambous
As a result of the emerging markets in Asia counterbalancing the slowdown of the US economy, Japanese exports have grown with analysts estimates rising 4 percent, 1.7 percent above the figure for March.
Japan's export growth has remained strong even though exports to the US have fallen for an eight consecutive months which was matched only back in 2004.
During that period, ...
by Kay Murchie
Earlier this month, loss-making airline Silverjet revealed it had secured a $25 million (£12.7 million) investment to keep the business class airline flying.
However, this morning the airline admitted that it has yet to receive the cash and has asked the London Stock Exchange to suspend its shares.
In spite of the share suspension and the collapse of funding, the airline, ...
by Peter Charalambous
For a second consecutive month, UK retail consumer confidence is low in a period where house prices are crippling disposal income, as well as increased inflation and tightening credit conditions as economists had forecast a 0.5 percent drop.
New orders were down by 1 percent month on month, whilst industrial orders declined even after annual growth of 9.9% back in ...
by Peter Charalambous
As a result of spiralling oil prices, which are consistently breaking records, Asian governments are struggling to manage their costs and cope with the changes as some are subsidizing costs for consumers to contain inflation whilst others are raising energy prices in order counter the effect on their balance sheets.
Both Indonesia and Taiwan have pledged payments to low income ...
by Kay Murchie
Ford Motor Company has said it has been hit by the rising cost of raw materials and soaring petrol prices.
The second largest carmaker in the US also warned that it no longer expects to return to profitability in North America next year.
Last year, Ford’s North American unit made a $3.5 billion loss and a $45 million loss in the first ...
May 22, 2008
by Elaine Frei
Crude oil touched a new record - again - in New York trade Thursday at $135.09 per barrel before declining due to profit-taking, while prices for Brent crude were also higher, to $135.14 per barrel, before falling from Wednesday’s close.
At just before the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude for ...
by Elaine Frei
The US dollar gained on the euro and the yen Thursday on speculation that the Federal Reserve will raise US interest rates before the year is out and on data showing that house prices didn’t fall as much in the first quarter as had been anticipated.
Just before noon in New York, the dollar traded at $1.5713 to the euro while it ...
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