Monday newspaper round-up: Mortgages, US dollar, Retail sales

8th Dec 2014 06:12

The vast majority of people with mortgages could withstand an increase in interest rates of up to two percentage points, the Bank of England's latest annual survey of household finances showed. That marks a significant shift in the central bank's thinking on what the impact of such a rise would be. It also means the monetary authority is coming closer to modifying its policy and wants to reassure markets beforehand, the Financial Times writes.In its latest quarterly review, published yesterday, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) issued a stark warning that a resurgent US currency could herald trouble for companies in emerging markets. The upswing in the US dollar might reveal funding and currency mismatches, the so-called central bank to central banks said. The BIS linked the threat to the enormous bout of volatility seen in the market for US Treasury securities in mid-October. Emerging market companies have racked up a total of $2.6trn in US dollar-denominated liabilities, the institution said, according to The Times.Industry experts at IMRG and Experian believe on-line retail sales on Manic Monday will hit £677m - or £470,000 per minute - and surpass the mark of 151m visits to retail websites, for a 26% rise year-over-year. Expectations had been for £556m in sales on Black Friday and another £650m on Cyber Monday. The former forecast, however, was smashed. In the event, sales are estimated to have reached £810m and £720m on each of those dates, respectively. Hence, it is likely that estimates for Manic Monday will be as well, The Daily Telegraph says.The two member parties of the coalition are diverging ahead of the elections. Writing to Tory backbenchers, the prime minister David Cameron wrote: "The Liberal Democrats are all over the place, unable to decide whether they want to stick to the plan or veer off it. And they - like Ukip - would be prepared to prop up a failing Labour government." Nick Clegg retorted by saying the Tories were not being honest about the scale of their intended plans to cut the deficit, The Guardian reports.Marks&Spencer will have to delay deliveries for online orders by as much as two weeks and withdraw next-day delivery services to stores, following blockbuster demand for its Black Friday promotions. The latter meant that its distribution centre, at Castle Donington, Leicestershire, was not able to keep up with demand at the busiest time of the shopping year, The Guardian says.In his Autumn statement the chancellor announced that he would reduce by half the amount of corporation tax which banks can avoid by using losses incurred during the financial crisis to offset profits. Osborne also made clear that the largest intended targets of the move were Lloyds and RBS. The move, however, has set off alarm bells at the headquarters of Bank of America, as the lender is set to be snared too by the tax raid, The Times wrote.