In brief: New low for Facebook shares, HSBC withdraws its cheap 5 year mortgage deal and petrol prices are set to soar.
SKY NEWS
Facebook Shares Slump After 'Lock Up' Ends
Facebook shares slumped more than 6.5% as markets traded following the end of a 'lock up' of millions of the company's shares.
The fall comes as investors were given the opportunity to sell 'locked up' stock for the first time since the company's flotation.
Following the social media network's notorious initial public offering (IPO) in May, the lock-up period that forced pre-float investors to keep hold of shares will end, flooding the stock exchange with an extra 271 million shares.
FINANCIAL TIMES
Investors defriend Facebook’s shares
By April Dembosky in San Francisco and Michael Mackenzie and Vivianne Rodrigues in New York
Facebook shares dropped below $20 to a new low, extending a slump that has marred the third-biggest US initial public offering and dented retail investor confidence in equity issues.
The shares suffered after the first expiration of a ban that prohibited pre-IPO investors from trading their holdings, releasing 271m shares.
CITY A.M.
Manchester United shares dive after Van Persie splash
By Julian Harris
Shares in Manchester United dropped nearly two per cent during trading in New York yesterday, making it the latest so-called broken initial public offering (IPO).
The stock closed at $13.77 last night, having sunk to depths of $13.30 earlier in the day, below the $14 it floated at just a week ago.
The dip followed news on Wednesday night that United will splash up to £24m on Arsenal’s centre forward Robin van Persie.
FINANCIAL TIMES
HSBC pulls five-year fixed mortgage deal
By Tanya Powley
HSBC is withdrawing its cheap 2.99 per cent five-year fixed-rate mortgage on Friday, a month after it was first launched to homebuyers.
The lender was the first of several banks over the past month to cut its five-year fix to a historically low level. The deal was only available to borrowers with deposits, or equity, of 40 per cent or more.
BBC.CO.UK
New home starts reach fresh low - government figures
The number of homes started by house builders in England has fallen again, to the lowest level for three years.
Government figures show only 21,540 new homes were started by builders in the three months to June this year.
That was 24% down on the same period a year ago and a 10% drop from the first three months of the year.
DAILY MAIL
House prices up three times more than pay in a decade as campaigners call for affordable accommodation
By Sean Poulter
Campaigners yesterday called for a drive to build more affordable housing, as figures showed that property prices have risen three times faster than salaries over the past decade.
The average house price in England soared by 94 per cent between 2001 and 2011 – taking it up from £121,769 to £236,518 – according to the figures from the National Housing Federation (NHF).
DAILY EXPRESS
Misery at pumps as petrol prices soar towards new high
By John Ingham
Motorists are facing new record high petrol prices due to the soaring cost of crude oil and looming Government fuel duty increases, experts warned yesterday.
The AA said rising pump prices could soon smash April’s records of 142.4p a litre for unleaded and 147.9p for diesel.
THE SUN
Dumpy pumpy
By Steve Hawkes, Business Editor
The boss of Asda has urged the Chancellor to shelve a delayed fuel duty hike altogether after a dramatic slowdown in sales.
Chief executive Andy Clarke said families were hurting and his customers saw “no light at the end of the tunnel”...He spoke as the AA warned that fuel prices were “on the path” back towards record levels...
THE SCOTSMAN
Consumers ‘could drive recovery’ as sales bounce
By Scott Reid
Hopes were boosted yesterday that the consumer can help lift the UK out of recession after special offers and discounts drove a surprise rise in retail sales last month.
Analysts believe that the stronger-than-expected spending on the high street, together with upward revisions to second-quarter construction and manufacturing figures, mean the double-dip recession may be not be as deep as feared.
THE GUARDIAN
Coalition rethink over Dilnot's £35,000 old age care cap
By Rajeev Syal
The amount of money that people will have to pay towards the cost of their care in old age could still be capped at £35,000 after an apparent U-turn by the coalition government.
The Dilnot Commission on funding of care and support recommended the £35,000 limit on the cost to the individual when it published its findings in July last year, but ministers including the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, indicated last month that the proposal would be shelved because of the £2bn cost to the Treasury.
THE TIMES
Britain doubles its money to £6.8 trillion
The rise in the country’s total wealth by 3.3% year came despite a poor year where the economy grew by only 0.8%.
THE TELEGRAPH
Finland prepares for break-up of eurozone
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
The Nordic state is battening down the hatches for a full-blown currency crisis as tensions in the eurozone mount and has said it will not tolerate further bail-out creep or fiscal union by stealth.
“We have to face openly the possibility of a euro-break up,” said Erkki Tuomioja, the country’s veteran foreign minister and a member of the Social Democratic Party, one of six that make up the country’s coalition government.
THE INDEPENDENT
Cineworld wants Starbucks shaken not stirred
Britons shelled out 2.1 per cent less for foyer snacks in the six months to July, so listed cinemas chain Cineworld is looking to roll out branches of Starbucks at its sites to entice richer movie fans.
"We're getting older, better-off people coming into cinemas," said its chief executive, Steve Wiener.
THE SCOTSMAN
Last issue of The Dandy to be published on 75th anniversary
By Alistair Munro
The Dandy, Britain’s longest-running children’s comic, is to disappear from shop shelves. The last printed issue will be published on 4 December to celebrate its 75th anniversary.
Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson confirmed the demise of the printed form of the Dandy yesterday after years of declining circulation numbers – dropping to less then 8,000 compared with an all-time high of two million.
