Financial News Round Up for the Week Ending 25th May 2012

Welcome to another financial news round up. With the UK confirmed as being officially in a ‘double-dip’ recession, is there much news to cheer us up? Maybe… Inflation is down to 3% and the weather outlook is warm and sunny, so despite British tradition, we could be in for a sunny bank holiday weekend in June. Time to dust off the barbecue, perhaps?

UK banks in line for a downgrade?

According to Richard Woolnough, fund manager at M & G, the UK’s banks along with those of France and Germany, are facing a downgrade in their credit ratings , following on from downgrades of Spanish and Italian banks.

Source: Fundweb

Kindles for sale in Waterstones

Waterstones the booksellers has made a deal with Amazon which will bring the kindle ebook reader into their stores, along with free wi fi to allow customers to buy ebooks and physical books from its stores.

Source: Guardian

Pension savings drop to their lowest for 8 years

UK pensions savings have dropped to their lowest levels for 8 years, according to research by pensions provider Scottish Widows. Their research showed that only 46% of people were saving adequate amounts for their retirement.

Source: Guardian

UK inflation down to 3%

Inflation in the UK went down to 3% in April, as gauged by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). This is down from 3.5% in March, but is still 1% above the government’s target rate of 2%.

Source: Fundweb

UK should consider interest rate cut, says IMF

Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund (the IMF) has told the UK that because of its continuing economic weakness, it should consider further interest rate cuts and more quantitative easing.

Source: BBC

Facebook faces lawsuits after float

Facebook and the banks who brought it to the market on the 18th May with its Initial Public Offering are facing lawsuits from disgruntled shareholders who have seen close to a 9% drop in share value in the first 6 days of trading.

Source: Citywire

UK confirmed to be in double-dip recession

After the Office of National Statistics revised its figures for the first quarter of 2012 downwards to a contraction of 0.3% in the economy, the UK was confirmed as being in a double dip recession.

Source: Fundweb

Tags: Bank of England, banks, inflation, interest rates, pensions, Recession

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