In this mornings news. 7th February.

Thrugelmir

Some snippets of news.

Brexit

Hopes for an imminent Brexit deal are being cast into doubt by the Irish government’s insistence on clarity on border arrangements, while the UK government’s position remains unclear.

House price forecast presents mixed picture

Prices in the three months to January were 2.2 per cent higher than in the same period a year earlier, but quarter-on-quarter, prices were flat. The monthly metric recorded the second consecutive month of price falls — down 0.6 per cent following a 0.8 per cent drop in December.

Russell Galley of Halifax Community Bank is quoted: “Despite the recent rise in the Bank of England base rate, mortgage rates are still very low. This, combined with an ongoing acute shortage of properties for sale, will continue to underpin house prices over the coming months.” Halifax also noted that total UK home sales in 2017 were only marginally lower than in 2016 and in line with the five-year average.

Britain’s economy will accelerate this year thanks to a strong global economy, according to the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, which predicts GDP growth of 1.9 per cent in both 2018 and 2019

A record £8.27 billion was invested in UK startup businesses in 2017, according to research firm Beauhurst.

The “current turbulence” in the financial markets should be seen “as a return to business as usual”, with “policy normalisation against a backdrop of a relatively buoyant economy”. While the boom “is as yet far from apparent in the real economy”, Warner says, there has been “exuberance” in the stock markets for some time. However, with interest rates set “at levels appropriate for a full-blown depression”, one of these two assumptions on the current situation is wrong, Warner believes. Therefore, with the alternative of a large rise in interest rates giving an “obvious cause for concern”, “if it is ever possible to have a ‘healthy’ stock market correction, this may well be it”.