Home Prices in London’s Best Districts Just Hit a Six-Year Low

Home Prices in London’s Best Districts Just Hit a Six-Year Low

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Political chaos and a series of tax hikes pushed the average price of a home in London’s most-desired districts down by almost 5 percent last year, paring it to a low not seen since the start of 2013. Home prices in the U.K. capital’s prime postcodes — which include Chelsea, Islington, Kensington and Mayfair — dropped 1.5 percent in the final quarter of 2018 as lawmakers failed to reach an accord on…

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Pound Traders May Be Risking Brexit Tumult With Low Volatility

Pound Traders May Be Risking Brexit Tumult With Low Volatility

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Time is fast running out on Brexit and there’s still no solution in sight — yet, pound options traders are remarkably sanguine. The cost of protecting against price swings in sterling has fallen to an almost three-month low even after U.K. lawmakers rejected Theresa May’s withdrawal plan and told her to renegotiate it with the European Union, which has warned it won’t budge. Given the risk of the whole deal…

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Brexit’s Not Bad for Everyone; Just Ask This U.K. IT Firm

Brexit’s Not Bad for Everyone; Just Ask This U.K. IT Firm

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Brexit’s impending arrival is prompting intensifying warnings from the likes of Airbus SE and Nissan Motor Co. about the potential fallout for U.K. businesses. But Britain’s split from the European Union has been a boon to at least one information-technology provider. Kainos Group Plc stock surged almost 11 percent Monday after the London-based government contractor said full-year results will probably exceed analysts’ expectations, thanks to “very strong” growth in digital services and ongoing demand from…

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Ex-Bashir Aide Says Change Possible as Protests Rock Sudan

Ex-Bashir Aide Says Change Possible as Protests Rock Sudan

SUDAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – A former top adviser to embattled Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir sees a “new spirit” in widespread protests that he said may bring great change to the economically troubled North African nation. Ghazi Salaheddine Atabani, who quit the ruling party after 2013 protests, said events such as the fall of the Soviet Union are proof that long-standing political systems can suddenly change. While his Reform Now party hasn’t urged people to join…

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Britons’ Mounting Debts Are Making Them Gloomy About the Future

Britons’ Mounting Debts Are Making Them Gloomy About the Future

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Bank of England may not be worried about U.K. household debt, but it looks like ordinary people are. Even though employment, income and spending levels are rising, Britons’ well-being isn’t improving, Office for National Statistics data published Monday showed. That may be due to concerns about rising debt repayments, it said. The BOE has been relatively sanguine about debt levels, with Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent last month describing suggestions that they’re unsustainably high as…

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Merkel, Japan’s Abe Seek to Avoid Chaos From No-Deal Brexit

Merkel, Japan’s Abe Seek to Avoid Chaos From No-Deal Brexit

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said they want to head off a no-deal Brexit that could rattle their economies, as both braced against the U.K.’s increasingly chaotic course toward an exit from the EU. Abe and Merkel, both 64, are two of the most outspoken defenders of the international order being shaken by Brexit and the U.S.-China trade war, as well as President Donald Trump’s questioning of decades-old alliances. Their…

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Trump Threatens to Bust Border Deal as Shutdown Deadline Nears

Trump Threatens to Bust Border Deal as Shutdown Deadline Nears

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Congress has only a few days left to come up with an agreement on border security spending to prevent a government shutdown and may yet see the process upended once President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address on Tuesday. Trump in recent days has repeatedly declared the negotiations a waste of time and said Feb. 1 that his speech to a joint session of Congress would reveal more…

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