The Notebook: Victoria Scholar on falling house prices, global travel’s acceleration and Netflix’s Sackler drama August 22, 2023 Today, Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, takes the City A.M. notebook pen The only thing being built is negative momentum Rising interest rates, high inflation and the cost of living crisis are starting to take a serious toll on the UK housing market. Just this week, data from Rightmove pointed to a [...]
FTSE 100 close: Mixed messages from China and housing rout sends London markets into the red August 21, 2023 London’s FTSE indexes fell amid a housing sell-off and a limited policy intervention from the Chinese central bank to boost its creaking economy. The FTSE 100 index slipped into the red to trade at 7,258.03 while the midcap FTSE 250 index fell 0.87 per cent to 17,938.91. Indexes in Paris and Frankfurt saw gains however. [...]
Crest Nicholson: ‘Persistently’ high inflation leads house builder to lower forecast for the year August 21, 2023 British house building company Crest Nicholson said it expects adjusted profit before tax for the full year to be around £50m down from previous expectations of £73.7m, after a challenging period for the sector bruised business activity. The Surrey based firm said “persistently” high inflation and rising interest rates worsened during the summer of this [...]
Persimmon slashes number of homes built as rate rise rattles business August 10, 2023 Persimmon has cut the number of homes it’s building by more than a third as the housebuilder faces up to rapidly rising mortgage rates and a slowdown in consumer confidence. The construction company built a total of 4,249 homes in the first half of the year down from 6,652 homes compared to the same period [...]
Persimmon under increasing pressure as rate rises crimp housing demand August 6, 2023 UK housebuilder Persimmon is expected to report a fall in revenue in its half-year update on Thursday as the sector comes under increasing pressure from higher mortgage costs. The FTSE 100 firm is expected to see revenue decline to £1.11bn, down from £1.69bn for the same period last year, according to CMC Markets. In its [...]
FTSE 100 close: London markets rise strongly after June inflation comes in lower than expected July 19, 2023 London markets breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday after inflation finally came in lower than expected. The bluechip FTSE 100 closed 1.8 per cent higher at 7,588.20 while the midcap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the domestic economy, ended 3.8 per cent higher at 19,322.52. Investors were buoyed [...]
Shares tumble for struggling FTSE housebuilders: ‘The scale of challenge cannot be swept under carpet’ July 13, 2023 The share price of London FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 house builders all took a tumble this morning, as fresh reports highlighting the state of the property market dampened investor confidence. Barratt was the hardest to fall this morning, with its shares sliding 4.67 per cent, as the group reported a 49 per cent decline [...]
FTSE 100 live: London markets rise after UK GDP contracts by less than expected July 13, 2023 London markets rose this morning, despite housebuilders slumping, after official figures showed that the UK economy contracted by less than expected. The FTSE 100 was trading 0.18 per cent higher at 7,429.68 while the midcap FTSE 250, which is more aligned with the health of the domestic economy, climbed 0.13 per cent to 18,604.03. Sentiment [...]
FTSE 100 close: Barclays, NatWest and Lloyds all surge after Bank of England gives clean bill of health to lenders July 12, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 was yanked higher today by Britain’s biggest banks surging after being given a clean bill of health by the Bank of England this morning. The capital’s premier index notched one of its best days in weeks, surging 1.83 per cent to 7,416.10 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is [...]
FTSE 100 close: London markets end week higher after boost from US GDP June 30, 2023 London markets closed the week higher on Friday after revised US growth figures showed the world’s largest economy was performing better than expected. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index rose 0.91 per cent to 7,538.36 while the midcap FTSE 250 climbed 0.90 per cent to 18,434.23. Investors were buoyed by stronger than expected growth in [...]