UK Home Prices Fall, HSBC in Talks to Sell Ping An Stake

Arthi Gupta
19 Nov, 2012
New York City

The UK indexes rose and average asking price for a home fell in November. Households in the UK report slowest deterioration in their finances in almost two years. Lloyds agreed to sell its Irish commercial real estate loans portfolio to Risali for

[R]3:10 PM London – The UK indexes rose and average asking price for a home fell in November. Households in the UK report slowest deterioration in their finances in almost two years. Lloyds agreed to sell its Irish commercial real estate loans portfolio to Risali for £149 million.[/R]

The UK indexes advanced after home price sentiment index gained and the average asking price for a home fell in November.

Market indexes in London followed the gains in the European markets after U.S. lawmakers made positive comments to avoid the upcoming automatic spending cuts and tax increase from Jan 1

In London, the benchmark index FTSE 100 soared 83.62 or 1.5% to 5,689.06 and the pound edged higher to $1.5890.

UK Home Price Sentiment Index Rises

UK households perceive that the value of their home declined again in November, but at the most modest pace since July 2010, data from a survey by Markit Economics and Knight Frank showed.

The house price sentiment index increased to 47.6 in November from 45 in October.

Separately, the average asking price for a home in the United Kingdom fell 2.6% from a month ago to £236,761 in November, after climbing 3.5% in October, property tracking Web site Rightmove said today.

On a yearly basis, asking prices climbed 2% November after rising 1.5% in October.

UK Household Finance Index Climbs

Households in the UK report slowest deterioration in their finances for almost two years, survey from Markit Economics showed today.

The headline Household Finance Index rose to 39.3 from 39 in October, the highest since December 2010. Around 28% of households reported that their finances worsened over the month in November.

Gainers & Losers

BP plc rose 2.9% to 428.50 pence after the oil and gas explorer intends to spend up to £3.7 billion buying back its shares, media reports suggest.

HSBC Holdings plc increased 2.4% to 610.10 pence after the lender is in talks regarding the possible sale of its 15.6% stake in Ping An Insurance Company of China, Ltd. The stake is worth $9.3 billion.

Lloyds Banking Group plc climbed 2.3% to 44.97 pence after the financial services provider agreed to sell its Irish commercial real estate loans portfolio to Risali Ltd. for £149 million.

Smith & Nephew plc gained 0.4% to 642.95 pence after the medical devices maker appointed Julie Brown as Chief Financial Officer.