Monday lunchtime business bulletin

Sep 22 2008 By Andrew Mernin

Oil prices continued their upward path today as investors digested the implications of the £383bn banking sector bail-out.

Light, sweet crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange - the world’s benchmark price - rose two dollars to 106.63 US dollars in electronic trading.

It followed a jump of seven dollars on Friday amid speculation the rescue plan would stabilise the US financial system and help boost economic growth, thereby increasing demand for oil.

In London, November Brent crude also broke through the 100 US dollar barrier to hit 101.40 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is urging lawmakers, who received the rescue package details over the weekend, to approve the proposal as soon as possible.

Traders were also watching news from Nigeria, where the country’s main militant group in the southern oil region yesterday declared a unilateral ceasefire, ending the worst spate of militant attacks in years.

UK motorists will be hoping the upward trend does not continue after a rare period of falling prices in recent days.

Demand for rented accommodation has soared by two-thirds during the past year, a letting agency said today.

Your Move said the number of leases taken out during August was 65% higher than during the same month last year, and jumped by 12% since July.

The group said it saw "continuous, strengthening growth" in rental demand during 2008, far beyond normal seasonal fluctuations.

Overall, the number of people signing rental agreements between January and August was up 45% compared with the same period of 2007.

Your Move said the rise in demand was the strongest for decades, and attributed it to people delaying buying a property due to falling house prices, while those who still wanted to go ahead with a purchase were struggling to get a mortgage due to the large deposits lenders are demanding.

The figures are in line with ones released by the Bank of England, showing that the number of mortgages approved for people buying a house dived by 71% year-on-year during July to hit a record low.

The UK’s biggest pawnbroker today said the reluctance of banks to lend in the credit crunch had worked in its favour after annual profits rose by 47%.

Albermarle & Bond reported annual revenues of £46.9m, a gain of 43%, and lifted adjusted profits for the year to June 30 to £10.3m.

The Bristol-based firm, which bought rival Herbert Brown in July 2007, said the reduction in lending by mainstream banks coupled with higher gold prices accounted for its success.

Chairman Charles Nicolson said: ``Market conditions remain favourable and we have seen an increase in the number of customers across our core pawnbroking business, driven in part by the tighter lending criteria required by mainstream lenders."

The biggest growth area was the sale of second hand jewellery which accounted for 75% of overall sales. Total sales of ex-pawn jewellery almost doubled in 2008 to £20m, compared with £11.5m last year.

The pound at noon was US$1.8428 compared to US$1.8310 at the previous close while the euro at noon was £0.7908  compared to £0.7871 at the previous close.