UK Home Prices Fall as Market Turns Cautious

Arthi Gupta
17 Sep, 2012
New York City

The UK indexes edged lower after home prices in the UK declined 0.6% in September. Reckitt Benckiser announced a management change. Redstone agreed to acquire Maxima for approximately

[R]3:00 PM London – The UK indexes edged lower after home prices in the UK declined 0.6% in September. Reckitt Benckiser announced a management change. Redstone agreed to acquire Maxima for approximately £9.9 million.[/R]

The UK indexes traded lower after euro zone finance ministers failed to agree on a blue print to implement Spanish bank bailout and rejected a plan to implement the region-wide banking authority. In addition, home prices in the UK declined for the second month in a row.

The euro zone finance ministers meeting in Cyprus ended with no clear conclusion on Spain and Greek situations and Spanish leader announced another round of austerity to kick-in from September 27 as people protested in Lisbon and Madrid.

In London, the benchmark index FTSE 100 declined 17.85 or 0.3% to 5,897.65 and the pound edged lower to $1.6216.

Miners led the decline with Rio Tinto falling 1.2%, Anglo American fell 1.7%, and BHP Billiton slid 0.9%.

UK Home Prices Fall

The average asking price for a home in the United Kingdom fell 0.6% to £234,858 on a monthly basis in September, following a 2.4% drop in August, Rightmove said today.

On a yearly basis, prices rose 0.7% in August.

Gainers & Losers

BT Group plc, the communication services provider fell 2.2% to 227.90 pence after a broker downgrade.

Redstone plc surged 17.8% to 0.925 pence after the managed services provider agreed to acquire IT business systems Maxima for approximately £9.9 million or 28 pence per Maxima share.

Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc rose 0.1% to 3,574 pence after the consumer goods company appointed Adrian Hennah as its Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Liz Doherty.

Unilever plc, the consumer goods supplier gained 1.2% to 2,271 pence after a broker upgrade.

Vodafone Group Plc fell 1% to 174.05 pence after the telecommunications company might make a provision of $2.2 billion to cover some tax risks in India, Bloomberg reported, citing an interview with the company’s Chief Financial Officer Andy Halford.