As the saying goes" there is good news and bad news" and is common practice, the good news comes first. Against all forecasts, house prices in Great Britain rose in January, largely driven by a jump in reported demand for detached properties. According to the Department of Communities and Local Government, The average UK house property value rose by 0.2% during the month to stand at £195,724,
On the downside, it was reported that during the twelve months up to the end of January.2009. House properties fell by a record 11.5%.
On the jobs front, the picture was only that of gloom with no pleasant surprises in site. As expected, the number of unemployed rose past the two million mark, the first time in 12 years that the figure has been that high. The number of people officially jobless rose by a record 138,000 in February.
Market analysts expressed opinions that the stocks in the UK are failing to show significant signs of revival largely due to skepticism of investors as a result of these high unemployment figures that are only expected to climb for the foreseeable future.
On the stock exchange, trading was subdued with Royal Dutch Shell dropping 3.3 percent, while the BG Group also lost 2.8 percent. The only rising star in the crude industry was BP whose shares rose by a modest half percent.
On the day, the FTSE 100 share index ended 1.4 percent lower at the close of trade Wednesday (52.11 points to 3,804.99) The FTSE 250 also dropped but by less. The index finished a mere 0.32% down on the day (20.09 to 6,191.70)
Sterling continued its slow but steady climb against the dollar and fell slightly against the Euro. It also rose slightly against the Japanese Yen and the Swiss Franc:
- Pound/US dollar 1.4257
- Pound/Euro 1.0575
- Pound/Japanese Yen 137.23
- Pound/Swiss Franc 1.6301
On Wall Street, things continued to be more buoyant, and the wave of optimism seems to be continuing there. The Dow Jones closed up 90.88 points up at 7468.58 with the NASDAQ following suit up 29.11 at 1491.22.
In a move that surprised many financial analysts. The U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday their intention to purchase up to 212.6 billion pounds ($300 billion) worth of longer-term U.S. government debt over the next six months. In addition the Federal Reserve will expand their purchases of mortgage-related debt in a move to ease credit market conditions.
The US central bank's policy panel also announced yesterday their decision to continue holding their s target for overnight interest rates in a zero to 0.25 percent range, a level they reached and have maintained since December 2008.
Prices for U.S. government bonds shot higher and U.S. stocks jumped on the move.
To continue in the same positive frame, crude oil prices dropped below the $48 a barrel mark on Wednesday one the news that the U.S. government's oil supplies rose more than expected last week.
