Daily Market Report – 07/10/2015 GBP British house prices dropped by 0.9 per cent in September when compared to August. Figures released by Halifax shows the rise in UK house prices in the year to September slowed to 8.6%, from 9% previously. Between July and September prices went up by 2% compared with the previous quarter. As a result the value of the average house or flat in the UK has fallen to £202,859. In contrast, last week rival lender Nationwide said that house prices GBP British house prices dropped by 0.9 per cent in September when compared to August. Figures released by Halifax shows the rise in UK house prices in the year to September slowed to 8.6%, from 9% previously. Between July and September prices went up by 2% compared with the previous quarter. As a result the value of the average house or flat in the UK has fallen to £202,859. In contrast, last week rival lender Nationwide said that house prices rose by just 3.8% in the year to September. It also said that the gap between prices in London and the rest of the UK had reached a record high. USD U.S. exports figures took a hit from an ailing global economy in August and imports from China surged, fuelling the largest expansion of America’s trade deficit in five months. The data released by the Commerce Department highlights the U.S. economy’s vulnerabilities to a strong dollar and weak demand in foreign markets, which could impose further caution on the Federal Reserve’s plans to hike interest rates. The trade deficit swelled by 15.6 percent to $48.3 billion in August, from a previous reading of $41.8 billion. Sales of U.S. goods and services abroad fell 2 percent to their lowest level since October 2012. The declines are partly due to the value of the dollar being higher than previous months, reflecting the strength of America’s economy relative to its trading partners. IMF A slowdown in emerging markets driven by weak commodity prices has led to The International Monetary Fund downgrading its forecast for global economic growth this year. It has reduced its figure to 3.1% from the 3.3% it predicted in July. The 2016 forecast is down to 3.6% from 3.8%. The sharpest downgrades are for emerging economies, especially Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa and Russia. So the IMF is still predicting growth, but it is distinctly lacklustre growth, especially for the current year. Key Announcements 9:30 – GBP: Manufacturing Production expected to increase 0.4% from a previous reading of -0.8%