Taking Stock on Thursday 19th October 2023
Taking Stock: Is a look at today's top business news & investment views plus we cover the winners, losers, the most read company news & the most followed. Today this includes:
Will the AIM All Share ever go up and maybe even revisit previous highs?
Companies discussed on “Taking Stock” today:
Rentokil #RTO 04:00 & 07:00
Rightmove #RMV 04:15
OnTheMarket #OTMP 04:20 & 06:50
Hargreaves Lansdown #HL. 13:00 & 36:05
AJ Bell #AJB 14:10 & 36:30
Ondine Biomedical #OBI 16:17
AssetCo #ASTO 17:00
Rathbone Brothers #RAT 17:10
Vast Resources #VAST 18:07
McBride #MCB 19:20
Unilever #ULVR 20:00
Tirupati Graphite #TGR 23:10
Atlantic Lithium #ALL 23:54
Saietta #SED 26:20 & 30:20
Bidstack #BIDS 27:00
Eco Buildings Group #ECOB 27:05
Gear4Music #G4M 29:00
Focusrite #TUNE 29:05
London Stock Exchange #LSEG 34:05
Silver Bullet Data Services #SBDS 42:49
TOP BUSINESS STORIES
UK should consider raising BoE inflation target to 3%, think tank says
A future British government should consider raising the Bank of England's inflation target from 2% to 3% to give it more room for manoeuvre during economic downturns and ease the burden on the public finances, a leading think tank said on Thursday.
The Resolution Foundation said a raised inflation target would allow higher nominal interest rates, leaving more room for them to be cut in a downturn.
Combined with a willingness to cut rates as low as minus 1%, this would allow the BoE to provide more interest-rate stimulus during a crisis, reducing the need for government borrowing and for bond-buying by the central bank, the think tank said.
UK house prices rise by smallest annual rate since 2012 - ONS
British house prices rose by 0.2% in annual terms in August, the smallest such increase since April 2012, official data showed on Wednesday.
It followed a 0.7% annual increase in July, the Office for National Statistics said.
House prices increased by a seasonally-adjusted 0.2% on the month in August, partially reversing a 0.3% drop in July.
US mortgage rates have hit a two decade high of 8%
Americans hoping to borrow money to buy a house or apartment are facing mortgage rates at the highest levels in more than 20 years.
The average interest rate on the typical 30-year, fixed rate home loan rose to 8% for the first time since 2000, according to Mortgage News Daily, which tracks rates.
U.S. mortgage application flow plunges to lowest since 1995
The volume of U.S. mortgage applications plummeted to the lowest in nearly three decades last week as the interest rate on the most popular type of home loan rose for a sixth straight week to the highest since 2000, the latest data to point to no near-term relief for the slumping housing market.
The Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly index of mortgage application activity fell 6.9% in the week ended Oct. 13 to 166.9, the lowest since May 1995. Applications for loans to buy a home fell 5.6% to the lowest since February 1995 and applications to refinance an existing mortgage tumbled 9.9% to the lowest since January.
Nokia to cut up to 14,000 jobs in cost-cutting drive
The firm follows rival Ericsson in moving to bolster profitability by cutting staff though it says research and development budgets are not affected.
The Finland-based telecoms technology firm, which has 86,000 staff worldwide, said it was launching a cost-saving drive across the business in a bid to boost its margins.
Nokia reported a 20% fall in sales during its third quarter.
Comparable net sales fell to €4.98bn (£4.3bn), well short of analysts' estimates.
It blamed sliding demand for 5G equipment, particularly in the US.