Financial news

• House prices at record high, says UK’s biggest lender

  07-11-2024 09:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Reeves’s budget could slow demand but prices have not fallen significantly since post-pandemic ‘race for space’Business live – latest updatesThe average price of a home in the UK is at a record high but demand could slow as a result of policies in Rachel Reeves’s budget, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender has said.Halifax’s monthly house price index found that the cost of the average home hit £293,999 in October, the highest ever recorded, outstripp
  
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• Fed chair says he will not resign even if pressured by Trump as interest rate cut

  07-11-2024 21:49 via theguardian.com
  
  Trump has been a persistent critic of the Fed, which lowered rates for the second time in a row as inflation continues to easeUS Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said he would not resign if he received any pressure from Donald Trump’s new administration to step down as the central bank lowered interest rates by a quarter-point Tuesday afternoon.Trump has been a persistent critic of the Fed and its independence, calling its officials “boneheads” in his last administration and
  
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• Finally BT has a plan: rein in foreign adventures and concentrate on UK

  07-11-2024 19:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Timing of chief executive Allison Kirkby is good after ‘weaker non-UK trading’ blamed for soft revenue forecastIt feels as if BT has been promising to simplify forever but here comes the newish chief executive, Allison Kirkby, with a plan that sounds more promising: rein in the foreign adventures and concentrate on the UK.It makes sense because BT’s long-term fortunes ultimately rest on the progress in its home market of EE in mobile, Openreach in broadband, and the UK corporat
  
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• Bentley delays its switch to electric-only cars from 2030 to 2035

  07-11-2024 18:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Luxury carmaker says it will reveal its first electric model – an ‘urban SUV’ – in 2026Bentley Motors has said it will continue to sell fossil fuel cars until 2035 – five years later than previously planned – as the luxury carmaker announced its first electric vehicle will be an SUV.The British brand said it would reveal its electric “urban SUV” in 2026, in an update to its strategy on Thursday. Continue reading...
  
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• Ignore the doom-mongers: the good news on interest rates shows Labour is on the right track | Mohamed A El-Erian

  07-11-2024 16:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Narratives matter in economics, and we must acknowledge the circumstances the government faces and give credit where dueGiven the tone and content of much of the coverage in the British press, you would be forgiven for thinking that the Labour government’s first budget in 14 years was a bust, and that is putting it nicely. Yet this is more than unfair. It obfuscates four important aspects of the budget, sidelines three lessons for the future and undermines today’s good news from the
  
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• ‘It’s just not right’: consumers decry changes to Quality Street chocolates

  07-11-2024 16:18 via theguardian.com
  
  The Purple One and Orange Crunch are both lighter and now the same shape as the Caramel SwirlFirst they ditched the plastic wrappers, then they introduced paper tubs. But for many, changing the shape and size of some of the nation’s favourite Quality Street chocolates was a step too far.Nestlé announced the shape changes to the Purple One and Orange Crunch in March, but shoppers realised they were lighter too. They are both now the same shape as the Caramel Swirl. Continue reading..
  
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• Nissan to cut 9,000 jobs globally after sinking to a loss

  07-11-2024 15:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Production capacity at Japanese carmaker will be reduced by 20% and sales budgets cut Nissan has announced it will cut 9,000 jobs from its global workforce as part of “urgent measures” to stem losses.The Japanese car manufacturer said it would also reduce global production capacity by 20% and cut its sales budgets after it slumped to a loss in the three months to the end of September. Continue reading...
  
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• Cost of ‘bat shed’ to protect colony near HS2 has topped £100m, chair says

  07-11-2024 15:13 via theguardian.com
  
  Jon Thompson tells industry conference there was ‘no evidence’ that bats were at risk from the trainsThe cost of a “bat shed” to protect a species in woodland along the new HS2 high-speed line has risen to more than £100m, HS2’s chair has revealed.The 1km-long mesh structure will be built where the London-Birmingham high-speed line emerges from a tunnel in Buckinghamshire, to protect a colony of Bechstein’s bats. Continue reading...
  
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• Does the Bank of England’s interest rate cut mean lower mortgage rates?

  07-11-2024 14:27 via theguardian.com
  
  What the decision means for homeowners – and the implications for savings, loans and credit cardsBank of England cuts interest rates to 4.75%The Bank of England has cut the cost of borrowing, reducing headline interest rates from 5% to 4.75% – a move that was widely anticipated. It is the second interest rate cut this year. Continue reading...
  
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• Sainsbury’s boosted by return to the office but warns of price rises

  07-11-2024 13:14 via theguardian.com
  Profits are up 4.7% but extra £140m on national insurance bill could mean more expensive groceriesBusiness live – latest updatesFood sales at Sainsbury’s have been boosted by a return to the office and fewer people dining out in restaurants, as the retailer warned of possible price rises as a result of having to pay £140m more next year in national insurance contributions [NICs].The supermarket chain’s pre-tax profits were £356m for the six months to mid-Septe
  
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• Bank of England cuts interest rates by 0.25 points to 4.75%

  07-11-2024 13:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Borrowing costs reduced for second time this year with Fed expected to cut US rates later on ThursdayBusiness live – latest updatesMortgage borrowers have been put on notice that interest rates will take longer to come down after the Bank of England warned Rachel Reeves’s budget would add to inflation while boosting economic growth.Giving its verdict on last week’s budget as it announced a quarter-point cut in interest rates to 4.75% on Thursday, the central bank said the chanc
  
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• Trump’s victory adds record $64bn to wealth of richest top 10

  07-11-2024 12:27 via theguardian.com
  
  Share surge increases Elon Musk’s fortune by $26bn in a day as Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin and Bill Gates also benefitUS elections – latest updatesThe wealth of the 10 richest people in the world – a list dominated by US tech billionaires – increased by a record amount after Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election, according to a widely cited index.The Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated that the world’s 10 wealthiest people gained nearly $64bn (abo
  
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• BT says budget is set to cost it £100m as it reveals 2,000 more jobs have gone

  07-11-2024 10:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Firm says changes to employers’ national insurance and minimum wage rise will add to costs as it cuts forecastsBusiness live – latest updatesBT has said it is facing £100m in extra costs as a result of the budget last week, as the telecoms company revealed another 2,000 jobs have gone under a long-term plan to cut costs.BT’s chief executive, Allison Kirkby, revealed that changes to employers’ national insurance contributions and increases in the minimum wage would a
  
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• Interest rates LIVE: Bank of England widely expected to cut base rate by 0.25%

  07-11-2024 08:05 via express.co.uk
  
  Mortgage holders brace for noon when the Bank of England announces its latest decision on interest rates.
  
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• Households can save £52 on their energy bill just by changing their shower time

  07-11-2024 06:31 via express.co.uk
  
  Households have been urged to cut down on showers as they are the most costly main appliance in the home, according to a new study.
  
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• Wetherspoons fans told prices will rise in stark warning

  07-11-2024 06:00 via express.co.uk
  
  Tim Martin said that the business faces a £60 million hit through increases in taxes and business costs.
  
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• Martin Lewis says Nationwide, Lloyds, Co-Op and First Direct giving out £661

  07-11-2024 05:01 via express.co.uk
  
  Money expert Martin Lewis says people with savings can get paid up to £661 in 'high interest savings accounts' and a bank switch bonus in the next 12 months.
  
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• State pensioners told they can legally avoid Stamp Duty with little known loophole

  07-11-2024 04:02 via express.co.uk
  
  State pensioners have been told they can legally avoid paying Stamp Duty thanks to a little known loophole.
  
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• Couples who decide against having children can boost pension pot by £226,000

  07-11-2024 03:57 via express.co.uk
  
  The nation's birth rate has fallen to the lowest level since records began in 1938
  
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• Martin Lewis urges people born in these years to put £1 in account now

  07-11-2024 03:30 via express.co.uk
  
  Money expert Martin Lewis is urging people born in these years to pay £1 into an account as soon as possible.
  
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• Halifax, Santander, Barclays customers warned mistake is costing you £1,222 a year

  07-11-2024 03:09 via express.co.uk
  
  Experts said it's "particularly worrying" that people approaching their retirement are not taking this step
  
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• Surge in 'doom spending' as Brits seek escape from bad news

  07-11-2024 02:11 via express.co.uk
  
  The rise of buy now pay later finance across online retailers and the high street has boosted instinctive and guilt-free shopping
  
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• Cost increases for shops and pubs are real and large. Pity the small operators | Nils Pratley

  06-11-2024 19:50 via theguardian.com
  
  M&S will pay an extra £60m in employer’s national insurance next year, but it can cope. Smaller firms may notM&S profits rise but retailer warns of £60m hit from Reeves’s budgetWednesday’s number of the day in the UK corporate scene was £60m. It is what Marks & Spencer expects to pay extra in employers’ national insurance next year, with the “same again”, said Stuart Machin, the chief executive, from wage increases that were alrea
  
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• ‘If they don’t get care, they die’: the woman who runs the world’s largest kidney dialysis company

  06-11-2024 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Helen Giza of FME is excited about the possibilities new drugs such as Ozempic could offer for renal patientsNew popular weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic come with an additional benefit: they could prolong the life of people with chronic kidney disease, says Helen Giza.For Giza, who runs the world’s largest dialysis and renal services company, Fresenius Medical Care (FME), and for the patients it serves, the new breed of weight-loss jabs promises to be transformational. Continu
  
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• Inflation pain helped secure Trump win but his policies mean higher prices

  06-11-2024 11:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Markets expect his policy package to harm trade and growth but reduce business taxesDollar and bitcoin soar as Trump wins US electionFinancial markets were poised for days of uncertainty waiting for the final result of the US presidential election to become clear, but in the end it wasn’t even close. Donald Trump won comfortably and the reaction in the markets to his return to the White House in January was swift. Share prices rose. The US dollar strengthened. Interest rates were expected
  
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• The return of President Trump – podcast

  06-11-2024 09:34 via theguardian.com
  Americans have made their decision and they’ve sent Donald Trump back to the White House. Guardian reporters tell the story of the night from around the United StatesDonald Trump has declared victory in the presidential election after winning key swing states in the race for the White House. As the night unfolded Helen Pidd spoke to Michael Safi at Kamala Harris’s watch party in Washington DC, where the mood turned from cautious optimism to something much darker. As results came in L
  
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• My late father is still being charged for car insurance

  06-11-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  His premium was £1,920 and I can’t get Sainsbury’s Bank to cancel the policyMy dad FH passed away in July, and, since then, I have been trying to cancel his car insurance with Sainsbury’s Bank. I wrote to explain the situation, but it didn’t act on the letter or scan his interim death certificate.When I managed to speak to someone, in mid-September, it promised to cancel the policy and contact the underwriter to see if a refund could be backdated. But, instead of ca
  
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• The UK was crying out for a new kind of budget. Labour has given it repackaged Tory ideas | David Edgerton

  06-11-2024 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A fairer, happier and more equal country is possible – but only if the party in power actually wants to make it happenHas Labour got a radical economic programme, on a par with 1945 or 1964? Has it stealthily snuck this past a hostile electorate? If you glanced at coverage of last week’s “historic” budget, you could be forgiven for thinking it had. At the election, the party promised minor increases in tax and spending, and now it is proposing major increases in borrowing
  
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• Planning rules have failed to link new homes to public transport, report finds

  06-11-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A decade of planning policy has achieved nothing, leaving millions of people still dependent on cars, study showsA decade of planning rules designed to create housing connected to public transport routes has achieved nothing, a report has found, with millions of people in new homes still dependent on cars to get to local amenities.The study by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) looked at more than 1.6m homes given planning permission in England from 2012 to 2021, finding that while major h
  
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• Competition regulator’s backing for Vodafone-Three merger is a fair call

  05-11-2024 19:26 via theguardian.com
  
  CMA’s new pragmatism over having three UK mobile operators will provide more genuine competition than the current setupVodafone and Three merger could get go-ahead, says watchdogWhat could UK merger mean for customers?Compare and contrast. Back in September, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had a big grumble about Vodafone and Three’s plan to merge their UK mobile operations. A combination of the third- and fourth-largest operators could result in “a substantial less
  
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