Reuters: Personal Finance News

House price growth picks up pace

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:13:52 +0000

LONDON (Reuters) - Property price rises picked up pace in January, even as unusually heavy snowfall led to a sharp drop in new buyer enquiries, a survey indicated on Tuesday.

FSA chief Sants quits in unexpected move

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:01:12 +0000

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top financial regulator announced on Tuesday he planned to step down, surprising the markets and casting doubt over the future of the Financial Services Authority and broader banking reform.

British Gas cuts prices by 7 percent

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:39:05 +0000

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's biggest household energy supplier British Gas became one of the first utilities to cut gas prices for residential customers on Thursday with owner Centrica announcing a 7 percent cut.

Bank of England halts QE

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:33:35 +0000

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England announced on Thursday no increase to its unprecedented 200 billion pound asset-buying programme, but left the door open to more so-called quantitative easing if economic conditions deteriorated.

Job market recovers further

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:25:56 +0000

LONDON (Reuters) - The labour market is slowly starting to recover, with the biggest increase in job vacancies in two-and-a-half years and a rise in permanent placements last month, a survey of recruitment agencies showed on Wednesday.

Consumer confidence rises

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:26:44 +0000

LONDON (Reuters) - Consumer confidence rose in January, a survey showed on Wednesday, but households showed less desire to spend than normal for the start of the year and barriers to a full recovery in sentiment remain.

Global pension funds returned to stocks in 2009

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:05:17 +0000

LONDON (Reuters) - Recovering share prices attracted pension funds in 2009, reversing a trend in favour of bonds in the wake of the credit crisis, a study by consultant Towers Watson said.

RBS kicks off LSE's new retail bond platform

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:09:59 +0000

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland said it would offer the first retail bond listing on the London Stock Exchange's electronic retail bond market on its first day of operations on Monday.

Mortgage approvals dip but consumer lending up

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:24:23 +0000

LONDON (Reuters) - Mortgage approvals unexpectedly fell in December, the first drop since November 2008, suggesting the last year's rebound in the housing market may be petering out, though there was a surprise increase in consumer lending, Bank of England figures showed on Monday.

Average Briton has 2,205 pounds of cash savings

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:31:26 +0000

LONDON (Reuters) - The average Briton held readily accessible cash savings of 2,205 pounds at the end of 2009, little changed from the start of the year, a new survey by Dutch bank ING Direct showed on Friday.