The dwindling supply of property and an improving market confidence have combined to boost the average UK house price, with the price climbing to £156,100 up 0.2% from August but remaining 5.6% below the level of September 2008. In August, the average house price bumped 0.1% from July and 6.7% from the year before. Questions still remain as to whether the recent surge in activity will continue, despite the talk of general improvement in property and equities.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the global economy has begun to expand again and financial conditions have improved significantly. However, in their most recent World Economic Outlook, the IMF has forecast that the pace of recovery is expected to be slow and unemployment is liable to remain at high levels for a long time. The IMF has cut their previously pessimistic forecast of the amount that banks are likely to lose in bad loans and investments. The revised total for the period between 2007 and 2010 is now $3.4 trillion, down from its previous estimate of $4 trillion. The reduction is attributed to the improved outlook for the global economy.

The squeeze on government finances will be so tight that outsourcing of catering services in the public sector is likely to rise sharply and that catering giant Compass are likely to benefit. A spokesman for the company forecast that mounting pressure on public bodies to cut spending has provided an opportunity for the industry to expand. Compass, the world’s largest industrial catering company have already enjoyed solid performances in its education, healthcare and defence divisions had helped to offset weakness in more discretionary sectors. In a recent trading update, the company announced that rising unemployment had hurt turnover at both their business and industry and sports and leisure divisions.

Despite a recent increase in sales, men’s formal wear retailer Moss Bros failed to prevent first-half losses, that increased by more than 35 percent. Moss Bros., who also own the Hugo Boss brand, were encouraged by increased sales over the last two months, after they had fallen by 2.6 per cent in the six months to the end of July. First-half revenue dipped from £61.1 million to £60.8 million while the company’s pre-tax loss widened from £2.2 million to £3 million.

It appears that with the completion of a debt-for-equity swap with its lender HSBC, high street camera retailing chain, Jessops, have succeeded in staving off insolvency The agreement, which will protect 2,000 jobs in Jessop’s 115 stores in the UK and Ireland, will see investors share a one-off payment of £100,000, equating to five per cent of their current estimated market value. Jessops arrived at the understanding with HSBC after some of its agreements coming in to the Christmas trading period were cast into doubt by the lack of certainty over its future.

The FTSE 100 closed down 25.82 points at 5,133.9, wrapping up the third quarter having risen by 21 percent, making for the largest quarterly gain in its history. Meanwhile the FTSE 250 fell back 62.21 points to 9,153.76 on the day’s trading. During the third quarter, the FTSE 250 has also risen, this time by more than 18 percent.

The pound was still steadily rising against the major currencies on yesterday’s trading. Sterling advanced against the dollar, rising to $1.6015 after an above-forecast jump in September UK consumer confidence.

• Pound/US dollar 1.6015
• Pound/Euro 1.10996
• Pound/Japanese Yen 143.953
• Pound/Swiss Franc 1.666

The Dow Jones Industrial Average continued to weaken on Wednesday’s trading, dropping 29.92 points to close on 9,712.28. The NASDAQ remained stable, dropping just 7.19 points to 2122.42.

As the effects of the recession continue to be felt, the unemployment rate across the Eurozone has again risen. The seasonally adjusted rate for August rose to 9.6%, compared with 9.5% in the previous month according to official figures recently released, with the number of jobseekers in the Eurozone reaching 15.2 million. Economists insist that unemployment rates are liable to increase, despite the fact that most of the economies in the region are moving out of the recession.

Crude oil prices rose by more than $1 a barrel ahead of the latest US inventories data while gold regained the $1,000 level and base metals staged a broad advance as sentiment towards commodity markets found support from renewed dollar weakness.

financial

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Tags: Banking, British Economy, British Pound, catering company, Crude oil, Currency, defence, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, education, Eurozone, Financial News, FTSE, healthcare, HSBC, Hugo Boss, IMF, International Monetary Fund, Jessops, Money, Moss Bros, NASDAQ, Property Prices, Recession, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK Recession, World Economic Outlook

Signs that the UKs hard hit investment banks are springing slowly back to life comes with the news that new job openings in July were at their highest for the year and the impetus is expected to continue if not increase in the autumn.

According to recent data, the number of job listings in June and July across London’s financial sector was almost double of that in December 2008 with an August looking to be even stronger.

The strong half-year results from most of the major UK banks show a dynamic upward trend, especially in investment banks, which at the peak of the financial crisis cut their staff back to the bone.

Another item of positive news from that banking sector is that the Lloyds Banking Group is to place their decision to close its 164-strong Cheltenham & Gloucester branch network on hold for the time being. Less than three months after announcing their decision, partially state owned Lloyds, are to take a second look at their decision, and while the situation is under review, the branches will remain operational after their planned closure date of November. Lloyd’s sudden change of heart is believed to be connected to its recent request for state aid approval from the European Commission.

Shares in John Menzies rose more than 24 per cent on Wednesday after demand for air travel and new contracts for newspaper delivery boosted underlying profits at their aviation services and news distribution division.

Meanwhile Menzies’ news distribution division, responsible for more than two thirds of the company’s total turnover, announced a 2 per cent reduction in sales to £573 million.

In the first half to June 30, Menzies negotiated new contracts with all the leading newspaper and magazine publishers, and is now serving an extra 3,000 retail outlets.

One of the largest and well known UK camera retailers, Jessops, who have been experiencing financial difficulties for some time now, have announced that they are close to closing a rescue deal with their bankers.

In spite of falling sales, Jessops, who operate 211 stores across the UK and Ireland, announced their intention to defer the end of their financial year to November, hopefully to allow the company sufficient time to reach an agreement with HSBC on restructuring its £60 million debt facility.

A spokesman for Jessops announced that sales had been weak for the summer months, down 4.7 per cent in the 12 weeks to August 16, on top of the expectations that the company would make a pre-tax loss before non-recurring charges for the year, following its £49.8 million pre-tax loss in the year to September 2008.

Britain’s largest bus and train operator FirstGroup, who also own and operate the Greyhound coach brand in the US, announced that the famous Greyhound buses will soon be seen on UK street, The company plans to start a bus route, running from London Victoria to Portsmouth and Southampton . .

The buses will be equipped with all the comforts that a passenger could ask for, including free Wi-Fi, power sockets for each passenger, air conditioning, complimentary newspapers and leather seats. To add a bit of character, each Greyhound bus will be named after character featured in US classic pop music, with of the names brought to mind including Peggy Sue, Billy Jean and Barbara Ann.

FirstGroup, who acquired the Laidlaw company, Greyhound’s parent company in a £1.9 billion deal in 2007, intend to provide strong opposition to their competitors through providing greater comfort and improved service at low cost. Each Greyhound coach will have a maximum of 40 seats compared with the usual 50. Customers will be able to reserve their seats over the internet.

The FTSE 100 was in good shape yesterday rising 66.91 points to close on 4,756.58. On the way back is the FTSE 250 jumping by 1.92% or 161.11 points to close on 8,531.36 at the end of the days trading.

It has been revealed that Bank of England governor Mervyn King intended to inject even more billions into the UK economy in August, but his move was vetoed by his colleagues on the monetary policy committee. The news has unnerved markets, sending the pound lower and gilt yields down. King apparently had intended to increase the central bank’s “quantitative easing” programme of injecting cash into the banking system by £75 billion to a total of £200 billion.

The pound remained fairly stable, apart from falling heavily against the Swiss Franc.

• Pound/US dollar 1.6507
• Pound/Euro 1.1582
• Pound/Japanese Yen 155.3327
• Pound/Swiss Franc 1.755

In the six months to April US banks have begun to reduce consumer access to revolving loans including credit cards and home equity lines of credit for about 20% of borrowers, according to a recent study. The study shows that banks in America are becoming increasingly aggressive in cutting their lines of credit to US consumers, with the average decrease to a consumer’s credit line averaging $5,100, more than double the $2,200 average reduction in the six months to October 2008

Seemingly unaffected was the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which continued its steady recovery, up a further 45.19 points to close on 9324.35. The NASDAQ also continued to show improvement, up 14.39 points to close on 1983.63

The sudden surge in the price of oil following data showing a huge drop in crude supplies last week was what pulled US stocks out of their early week slump

US natural gas prices sank to a seven-year low on Thursday amid concerns about a possible supply glut as winter looms in the offing.

Demand for natural gas has been weak, particularly from the industrial sector. US producers have cut the number of rigs drilling for new gas by more than half since September 2008 although stocks continue to rise due to output from existing facilities.

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Tags: Bank of England, Banking, British Economy, British Pound, Cheltenham & Gloucester, Currency, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, European Commission, Financial News, FirstGroup, FTSE, Greyhound buses, HSBC, Investment, investment banks, Jessops, John Menzies, Lloyds, Mervyn King, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, Recession, Stock Markets, UK Banks, US Banks