Business live: UK house prices fall as stamp duty rise hits demand
Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said: 'Nevertheless, we still expect activity to pick up as the summer progresses, despite ongoing economic uncertainties in the global economy, since underlying conditions for potential homebuyers in the UK remain supportive.'
He said the unemployment rate remains low, wages are rising after stripping out inflaiton and borrowing costs are likely to fall in the coming quarters.
Northern Ireland remained the top-performing area, with annual house price growth of 9.7 per cent. East Anglia was weakest, with 1.1 per cent year-on-year rise.
Smythson, the 138-year-old leather goods maker which holds a royal warrant, has been sold to a private equity company after several years of losses and declining sales, writes Isabella Fish, Retail Editor.
The company has been bought for an undisclosed sum by Oakley Capital, founded by the financier and chief executive Peter Dubens. It has been owned by Tivoli Group, one of Italy's largest handbag makers, since 2009.
Smythson, which sold its Bond Street store last year as it struggled amid a global luxury slowdown, warned earlier this year that demand in the luxury sector remained 'uncertain' as it posted another decline in annual sales.Smythson was started in 1887 by Frank Smythson, who opened a New Bond Street boutique promising 'stationery and fancy articles of a high-class character'.
The dollar has weakened overnight as President Donald Trump's spending bill fueled fiscal concerns and uncertainty around trade deals hit sentiment.
The dollar index, which measures the dollar against six other currencies, slipped to 96.612, its lowest since February 2022. Sterling rose against the dollar to $1.3742.
Stock markets in Asia edged higher, except for Japan's Nikkei index, which fell on uncertainties around US-Japan trade talks. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Japan's reluctance to import American-grown rice was a sign that countries have become 'spoiled with respect to the United States of America'.
The gold price rose, with the safe-haven asset supported by the weaker dollar and uncertainty over tariff policies ahead of Trump's July 9 deadline. The price rose 0.8% to $3,329.63 an ounce.
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