How many hints do we need before the penny drops and the UK public can finally reach the conclusion that the recession is finally over? The latest one comes from the Institute of Chartered Accountants who in a report released last week announced that confidence among business professionals has surged form a negative status to a positive one. Based on their findings, the institute predicts the UK economy will grow by 0.5% in the third quarter of 2009, a reverse on the 0.8% negative growth that the UK economy recorded during the second quarter of the year.

UK building societies continue to be under scrutiny, with the news that possibly five of the largest could be amalgamating over the next couple of years. The number of building societies reporting losses for 2008 is reportedly causing concern in Whitehall, and the latest annual review of performance released shows that since the summer of 2008, seven mergers have already taken place, out of framework of 59 building societies.

Seven months after the U.K. government made a commitment to offer up to £2 billion of loan guarantees for car makers and their suppliers, agreements have yet to be signed. According to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, car makers and suppliers, the aid was offered as car sales collapsed during the recession, declining for 14 consecutive months through June.

The Thames Valley property market, once regarded as the UK’s equivalent to Silicon Valley, look to be heading for their lowest rental incomes on record, as the recession continues to hammer the technology industries.

On the FTSE yesterday rising metals prices pushed mining stocks. Kazakhmys led the sector, gaining 5.8 per cent to 980 pence, while compatriot ENRC was up 5.3 per cent to 896½ pence.

Punch Taverns added 4.1 per cent to 107½ pence on strong volume in anticipation a positive trading update due to be released this morning. Analysts announced that they expect trading in the company to have stabilised and that profit pressures are on the wane.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.9 per cent, rising 45.34 points to 4,896.23 for its highest close since early October.

Moving forward at the speed of an express train, the FTSE 250 increased by a further 1.76 % or 153.06 points to close on 8,831.89

Currency markets continued to remain stable on Monday’s trading

• Pound/US dollar 1.6409
• Pound/Euro 1.1481
• Pound/Japanese Yen 154.7475
• Pound/Swiss Franc 1.7419

US stocks slowed down after four sessions of gains on Monday after a warning over future bank losses saw the markets erase early gains.

The NASDAQ Composite index closed down a mere 2.92 points at 2,017.98, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average found fractional gains to 9,509.28

On Friday General Motors eventually postponed their much awaited decision on whether Canada’s Magna International would be the winning bidder for its Opel brand.

Magna, the world’s third largest auto parts manufacturer, in conjunction with the Savings Bank of the Russian Federation, who trade under the title Sberbank, had submitted a joint bid in July to acquire a 55 percent stake in Opel, the troubled financially strapped group’s European division. Brussels-based financial investor RHJ International is the rival bidder.

At their meeting Friday, GM’s board of directors failed to come to a decision whether to accept the winning bid by the Canadian auto company and the Russian bank.

This week French banks announced their intention to lead the way in offering to reinforce rules ¬governing the payment and disclosure of bonuses to their officials. In meetings with Nicolas Sarkozy, president, and Christine Lagarde, the finance minister, bank officials announced the concessions, which will strengthen a code on pay agreed by French banks in February, Designed to curb excessive risk-taking. The announcement, will be undoubtedly be used to bolster France’s position at the forthcoming G20 meeting to be held in Pittsburgh next month.

Oil prices have risen to 10-month highs on fresh signs that the global economic recovery is gathering pace.

US light crude ended Monday up 48 cents to $74.37 a barrel, while London’s Brent crude advanced seven cents to finish at $74.26

The rise came after official figures showed that new industrial orders in the 16 nations that use the Euro rose more than expected in June.

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Tags: Banking, British Economy, British Pound, Christine Lagarde, Currency, Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Economy, ENRC, Finance, Financial News, FTSE, G20, General Motors, Global Credit Crisis, GM, Institute of Chartered Accountants, Kazakhmys, Magna, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, Nicolas Sarkozy, Opel, Punch Taverns, Recession, Savings Bank of the Russian Federation, Silicon Valley, Stock Markets, U.K. government, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK Recession, US stocks

Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling is doing all that he can to create an atmosphere of ” business as usual “/ One of his measures announced yesterday is to allow interest rates to remain at the current and unprecedented low levels. Darling announced to leaders of UK commerce and industry at a conference on Wednesday that interest rates were “low and likely to remain low” for the meantime. The Bank of England, as cut borrowing costs 4.5 percentage points since October.

On the oil market, Royal Dutch Shell reported a sharp fall in first quarter profits followed rival energy group BP who announced a similar fate on Tuesday of this week. The only good news was that the loss was less than analysts had forecast, a net profit after tax of £3.3 billion, down by 50% from the same quarter in 2008.

After a long battle bravely fought and eventually lost, LDV the midlands based light van maker announced that they will have no option but to enter administration on May 6th. LDV regretted that administration would result in several thousand job losses, but they had given all hope of receiving a further bailout from the government, and understand that chances of selling the business as a going concern was now impossible.

The UK private equity company’s 3i’s have annoyed some of their major investors by announcing their intention of launching a rights issue, for up to £700million. The announcement comes after members of 3i’s board were briefed last week by their new chief executive Michael Queen who plans to use the funds to partially reduce the company’s £2billion debt burden. However investors have suggested that 3i could probably cut back on the debt through using existing cash flow as well as disposing of some of their investment portfolio.

U.K. stocks advanced yesterday on positive trading, encouraged by recoveries from both the banks and metal producers. The U.K.’s third-largest bank, Barclays, and Lloyds both rose by more than 8 percent, making up for what they had lost in the previous two days trading. Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc also jumped by thirteen percent in the wake of positive profit forecasts. Kazakhstan’s largest copper producer, Kazakhmys increased their shale value by 5.9 percent (21 pence to 511). Vedanta, who holds the largest share of copper production in India, gained 5.7 percent (53 pence to 985.5) Global education service provider BPP Holdings Plc were the star of the day on the exchange as their shores rose 58 percent (213 pence to 578) on the announcement that the company had received a firm offer from Apollo Global for 620 pence a share.

Building giant Taylor Wimpey Plc rose by 8.5 percent, (3.5 pence, to 44.5.) on estimates that the company is not liable to announce any capital raising measure when it announces preliminary results tomorrow. Up and coming Scottish based manufacturer of semiconductors Wolfsan Microelectronics Plc (also jumped yesterday, up 12 percent (13.5 pence, to 125) the company announced that their cash position as well as their order book was strong.

On the day the FTSE 250 index rose by 1.49% or 93.35 points to 6351.92 while the FTSE 100 finished the session up 93.19 points, higher at 4,189.59 Sterling fell slightly against the dollar and the Euro and recovered against the Japanese Yen and the Swiss Franc:

Pound/US dollar 1.4807

Pound/Euro 1.1145

Pound/Japanese Yen 127.58

Pound/Swiss Franc 1.6425

Wall Street rose despite news that the US economy continues to contract led by the biggest export fall for 40 years in the first quarter of 2009, The US GDP contracted at a rate of 6.1% annually during the quarter, improving slightly on the 6.3% fall in the last quarter of 2008. The Dow Jones Average jumped up 168.8 to close at 8185.73. NASDAQ rose 38.13 points to close at over the 1700 mark, at 1711.95

Japan, reputedly the World’s second powerful economy who has been particularly hit hard by the global downturn, reported that their industrial output has risen in March for the first time in six months. Production rose by 1.6% in March following months of dramatic decline.
Shares in Asia were broadly higher on Wednesday thanks to some encouraging signs about company profits and the dissipation of worries about the effect of swine flu on the world economy.

Crude oil prices on Wednesday rose above the $50-a-barrel mark as traders shrugged off a bearish increase in US crude stockpiles and instead focused on a large drop in petrol inventories ahead of the driving season.

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Tags: Alastair Darling, Bank, British Economy, Financial News, Kazakhmys, LDV, Royal Bank of Scotland, Royal Dutch Shell