Rate worries alarm US investors
Wall Street's interest rate anxiety sent stocks lower last night after comments from the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, compounded concerns about surging oil pri...
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How he rates: Tom Smith, Lancashire
It was not only the weather that cast gloom over Lancashire in their drawn County Championship opener against Hampshire a fortnight ago: losing an Ashes Test in 2009 did ...
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China raises interest rates to cool overheating economy
China yesterday increased its interest rates for the first time in 18 months in an effort to rein in booming investment and credit growth that have the potential to desta...
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Retail sales rise makes rate cut unlikely
The prospects of a fall in interest rates took a further knock today as retail sales rose at a more rapid clip than expected in March.
The Office for National Statistics...
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Bank voted 7-1 to hold interest rates
The Bank of England's monetary policy committee voted 7-1 to leave interest rates unchanged at 4.5% this month, Bank minutes showed today.
For the fifth month running, S...
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Jobless claims rise at twice expected rate
The UK jobs market continued to soften in March as the number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose more than expected, official figures showed today.
The Office...
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Euro rates held - and no rise in May, ECB hints
The European Central Bank surprised financial markets yesterday by hinting that an interest rate rise in May was far from being a done deal, as analysts had assumed.
The...
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Bank keeps interest rates at 4.5%
The Bank of England today left interest rates unchanged at 4.5% for the eighth month running amid concerns over rising house and energy prices.
The Bank's monetary polic...
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Greenspan's successor uses first meeting to raise US interest rates
The US Federal Reserve, under its new chief Ben Bernanke, last night raised interest rates by a quarter point to 4.75%, their highest level in nearly five years, as it so...
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Soaring rate of caesarean births linked to legal action fear
Women are unnecessarily having caesareans because of a lack of senior labour ward staff and doctors' fears that they will be sued if anything goes wrong, research in a ne...
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Lambert leaves rate-setting role to take helm at CBI
Richard Lambert was forced to step down with immediate effect from setting interest rates at the Bank of England after he was announced yesterday as the successor to Sir ...
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Bank voted 8-1 to keep rates unchanged
For the fourth month running, the Bank of England's monetary policy committee voted 8-1 to keep interest rates unchanged, minutes showed today.
Stephen Nickell was again...
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Call for reduced corporation tax rate in Northern Ireland
Corporation tax rates must be slashed in Northern Ireland to help firms compete on an equal footing with the booming Irish economy, a coalition of business organisations ...
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Unemployment rises at fastest rate since 1990s
The number of people drawing unemployment benefit has risen at its sharpest rate since the recession of the early 1990s, figures revealed yesterday.
The figures, which p...
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Bank of Japan prepares to raise interest rates after five years at near-zero
Japan's central bank yesterday paved the way for an interest-rate rise after having kept rates in effect at zero for nearly five years. The Bank of Japan decided to end i...
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Bank holds rates steady for seventh month
The Bank of England today held interest rates at 4.5% for the seventh month running, after a rise in house prices and other signs of economic strength.
There was encoura...
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Store cards to carry rate warning
Consumers who take out store cards are losing at least £55m a year thanks to uncompetitive interest rates, the competition watchdog said today.
A two-year investiga...
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Cash fears lead to fall in divorce rates
From Prince Charles to Bill Clinton, there have always been husbands and fathers who were tempted to stray. Now, however, men are turning away from affairs because they f...
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Long-term savers lose out on interest rates
Savers who have held their money in the same account for some time should look at moving their cash as the rates on offer are often much lower than those on new accounts ...
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Fear of property boom kept interest rate on hold
Fears that lower interest rates would stoke a fresh boom in the property market helped keep borrowing costs on hold at 4.5% this month, the Bank of England revealed yeste...
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Bank voted 8-1 to hold interest rates
Bank of England minutes today showed that, for the third month in a row, only one Bank policymaker voted to lower interest rates.
Stephen Nickell again emerged as the lo...
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Car mechanics overtake barristers' hourly rate
Visiting a garage can prove costlier than you think, according to new research today which reveals that the average car mechanic often charges more an hour than a doctor ...
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Drop in inflation increases chances of rate cut
The prospects for a cut in interest rates were boosted yesterday by figures showing that inflation had unexpectedly fallen below the Bank of England's target rate last mo...
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Rates must fall soon, so take out a tracker
Interest rates might not have fallen last week, but Cash is reliably informed that four out of nine members of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee voted in favo...
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English sexual infection rates highest in UK
Rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are higher in England than in the rest of the UK, but rates in Scotland and Wales are growing twice as fast, researchers s...
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Call for rate cut as sales burst peters out
Retailers today call on the Bank of England to cut interest rates this week after the latest snapshot of consumer activity showed the burst of spending in the new year sa...
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Rates on hold despite retail slump
High street retailers basking in the glow of a better-than-expected Christmas will come crashing back down to earth this week.
Figures published on Tuesday by the Britis...
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Greenspan bows out with final rise in interest rates
Alan Greenspan last night marked the end of his eighteen and a half-year stint at the helm of the Federal Reserve with an increase in interest rates designed to prevent h...
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Bank majority kept rates unchanged
A member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee broke ranks with his colleagues when he voted for a cut in interest rates for the second month running, it eme...
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Switchers feed credit card rate increases
Credit card customers of two of the UK's largest retailers are to see the rate they pay on their borrowing increase, despite the bank base rate remaining unchanged since ...
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