News

The chances of Britain dropping back into recession this year have doubled to one-in-five, a leading economic forecaster has warned amid mounting fears the recovery is slowing.

F&C Asset Management is cutting 110 jobs as part of an outsourcing deal designed to save up to £12m a year.

House sales in December 2010 fell to their lowest level for almost eight years, as the traditional seasonal low was exacerbated by the treacherous weather conditions across the UK.

House prices have begun to fall in real terms, with annual house price growth dropping below inflation to 2.9% in December 2010, according to the latest figures.

ETF Securities has launched its Physical Asian Gold Shares (AGOL) ETF, backed by gold held in Singapore.

Leading shares are mixed at the outset leaving the FTSE 100 barely changed, down 0.32% or 19 points to 6,004, although tech firm ARM received a boost.

The combination of high valuations for US bonds and large retail inflows suggests a bubble about to burst, says Henderson's Simon Ward.

There is a lack of appetite amongst European investors for bond funds across the continent after a net withdrawal of €4.6bn in November, according to Lipper's latest monthly snapshot.

Vanguard has withdrawn its application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a suite of municipal bond funds that would have issued ETF shares.

The group risk industry should be smiling broadly not merely breathing a sigh of relief following the confirmation of an exception from retirement age legislation, said Swiss Re.