Member Info for MY21

At 0330GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.71% or $0.41 lower at $57.44 per barrel. Yesterday, the contract declined 1.5% or $0.88, to settle at $57.85 per barrel, after OPEC’s closely watched monthly report indicated that the group’s total monthly production increased by 283,000 oil barrels per day in June compared with May. Moreover, the oil prices declined amid a strong dollar and expectations of additional oil supply from Iran.

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - British consumer spending recorded the biggest annual increase during the second quarter in five years, according to figures published on Monday based on credit and debit card transactions from Visa Europe. Consumer spending rose 1.4 percent on the year in the three months to June, the biggest increase since the second quarter of 2010, Visa Europe said. Britain's big-spending consumers have been a big driver of the country's economic upturn over the past couple of years, aided recently by a slow pick-up in wages and low inflation. "Prudent rather than excessive spending looks to be the order of the day, but people are definitely enjoying themselves," said Kevin Jenkins, an executive at Visa Europe.

LONDON (Alliance News) - US chemicals company Platform Specialty Products Corp is set to acquire FTSE 250-listed peer Alent PLC in a USD2.3 billion deal, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. Citing people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said Platform will pay 503 pence per share for Alent in cash and shares. The price would be at a 49% premium to Alent's closing price on Friday. Platform was created in 2013 by Martin Franklin as a vehicle to acquire specialty chemicals companies. The deal is expected to be announced on Monday, the Journal said.

.K. housebuilders: can we build it?: The government has announced a shake-up of planning, curbing local authorities’ ability to block development. This is great for housebuilders, in theory. A quicker process would mean greater volumes, smaller land banks relative to annual output and higher returns on capital. Builders’ share prices responded with a shrug, however, rising only fractionally more than the broader market. In any case, large quoted builders will not be the main beneficiaries of a planning revolution. Smaller builders once accounted for half of output. Now, it is nearer a quarter. For them, the multiyear planning process represents a big cash flow headache. Speeding it up would improve their access to finance and so their ability to compete in the land market with their larger peers. That could push up land prices — which have so far been unusually restrained compared with house prices — for the bigger players. It might also stiffen competition for skilled tradesmen, another big constraint on home construction rates. Builders may not crank up their output, even if the system allows it. They have spent years rebuilding balance sheets and restoring margins. Several, including Persimmon and Berkeley, prioritise staged returns of cash to shareholders over volume increases. The bats and newts will be safe for a while yet.

Train stations ‘hold the key’ to building 500,000 new homes: There is scope to build more than half a million homes on land within walking distance of railway stations in England, one of the country’s leading estate agencies has claimed.

OakNorth lands another big hitter: A challenger bank that will lend to entrepreneurs has hired a former senior banker from Barclays as its new Chairman.

UK total trade deficit slid in May Total trade deficit in the UK dropped to £0.39 billion in May, less than market expectations of a total trade deficit of £2.15 billion. The UK had registered a revised total trade deficit of £1.83 billion in the previous month.

At 0330GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 1.77% or $1.04 lower at $57.69 per barrel. On Friday, the contract climbed 0.20% or $0.12, to settle at $58.73 per barrel, but pared gains after Baker Hughes reported that the US oil rigs climbed for a second straight week, increasing by 5 to reach 645 last week. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency stated that the oil market would remain oversupplied next year and that prices could decline further.

BP faces billions more in spill payments Business claims over 2010 disaster could to be at least $2bn above group’s $10.3bn provision

Bonds, not the black stuff Saudi Arabia has borrowed $4bn from local markets in the past year and sold its first bonds for eight years as part of efforts to sustain high levels of public spending as oil prices slump. Saudi Arabia needs an oil price of $105 a barrel to meet planned spending requirements, but the average price for the year is estimated at $58 a barrel, an official has said. (FT)

State banks prime the buy-to-let timebomb: BoE fears surge in loans to landlords could shake the economy when interest rates go up (RBS, meanwhile, Tripled its lending in 2014 as Lloyds took its total to £53 billion): The boom in buy-to-let lending, which has prompted the Bank of England to warn of a risk to stability, is being fuelled by a surge in lending to landlords by Britain’s state-backed banks.

China's rich seek shelter from stock market storm in foreign property: Real estate agents in Australia, Britain and Canada are bracing for a surge of new interest in their already hot property markets, with early signs that wealthy Chinese investors are seeking a safe haven from the turmoil in Shanghai’s stock markets.

U.K. sees surge in property millionaires despite slowdown in house market: The number of property millionaires in Britain has more than doubled over the past three years and broken through the 500,000 mark for the first time, it is claimed.

Brazil oil giant faces $98 billion shareholder lawsuit in U.S. over corruption scheme: A U.S. judge has told Petrobras Bosses to prepare for a $98 billion lawsuit over allegations that executives at the Brazilian Oil Company and senior politicians were involved in a huge money-laundering and corruption scheme dubbed “Operation Carwash”.

Oil price has further to fall, says IEA: Oil prices are set to come under further pressure from easing global demand and an expanding glut of crude while a rebalancing of the markets may last well into next year, the International Energy Agency has said.

Property comprises one-third of alternative assets: Property is the biggest alternative asset class for institutional investors again, making up just over a third of the assets managed by the top 100 Managers

Telefónica in €600 million Spanish TV rights deal for La Liga: Telefónica has agreed to pay €600 million for the domestic rights to broadcast matches of all Spanish league teams including Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, as part of its efforts to push the pay-television market in its home country.

Builders get £1 billion-a-year boost from George Osborne’s property plans: House builders could see up to £1 billion sliced off their costs next year on the back of a radical shake-up of the planning permission system announced by the Government to boost house numbers

Work to begin on Shell Centre on London's South Bank: Work can finally begin on the £1.3 billion overhaul of the Shell Centre in the South Bank, London, now that a long-running planning dispute dubbed the “battle of Waterloo” is finally over.

Tax relief on rented rooms a boost for beleaguered parents: Parents will be able to make £144 a week tax-free by charging their grown-up children rent for living at home, as the Chancellor at last boosts the meagre “rent-a-room” threshold