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Figures from the Central Bank show that lending growth slipped again in November, with the adjusted annual rate of private sector credit growth dropping to 17.1% from 18.5% in October.

British Bankers' Assn. announces mortgage approvals are down 40% on last year, and the pound falls to a new low against the euro

US Stocks finished largely flat yesterday as investors returned from the Christmas holiday to news of weaker-than-expected retail sales. A jump in oil prices also concerned investors. The International Council of Shopping Centers said its index of retail chain store sales rose 2.8 percent last week, rounding out a sluggish December performance that puts merchants on track for a smaller sales gain than the trade group originally expected. Still, there is some hope sales will rebound as shoppers start spending with holiday gift cards. Other reports released alongside Christmas proved disappointing. Target Corp. indicated its sales may have fallen in December, while MasterCard Inc. said holiday spending, including credit, cash and checks, climbed a modest 3.6 percent between Thanksgiving and Christmas, weighed by a slowdown in sales of women's apparel. That compares with a rise of 6.6 percent over the same period last year. The 2007 holiday figure is at the low end of its 3.5

CARPETRIGHT Plc, the UK's largest carpet retailer, dropped to a four-year low in London trading after managers led by Chairman Philip Harris scrapped their 630 million-pound (US$1.2 billion) plan to buy the company. The shares fell as much as 11 percent to 785 pence in London, heading for the lowest close since December 15, 2003. They slid 18 percent on December 21 after the Rainham, England-based company said discussions had ceased, citing deteriorating credit markets. The announcement was made about two minutes before trading ended. Turmoil in the credit markets hampered the executives' ability to secure funding, Harris said. Bloomberg News reported the pace of takeovers worldwide had fallen by about a third since the end of the second quarter, with companies such as Virgin Media Inc and Cadbury Schweppes Plc delaying asset sales amid signs economic growth in countries from the US to Britain is ebbing. "The prospects for the group are undiminished given its market leading

Stocks rebounded in a low volume session Thursday afternoon as credit concerns, brought about by troubling news from Bear Stearns and MBIA, offset more encouraging news from Oracle and Nike.

[Research] Bob Giblin, research director at GfK Roper, says he was surprised to find fast-food companies were held in such low esteem in consumers' minds. "They're doing a lot and not getting a lot of credit for it," he says, adding: "It's an industry that has a lot of exposure and is one that's easy to bash."

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar was mostly steady in recent ranges against major currencies Wednesday but jumped against the British pound sterling, after the minutes of the Bank of England's December meeting showed its monetary-policy committee unanimously backed a cut in interest rates. That set the stage for lower rates in early 2008 as worries about a weakening economy clearly outweighed inflation concerns. The pound "sold off after the BoE minutes showed that the MPC rallied around the December rate cut decision, defying market expectations that inflation concerns would have given rise to a camp of dissenters," said Matthew Strauss, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets. The pound was at $2.0044, down from $2.0122 in late U.S. trading Tuesday. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was at 77.495, up from 77.440 late Tuesday. Against Japan's currency, the dollar was buying 113.09 yen, compared with 113.37 yen Tuesday. The euro was trading at $1.4392, compared with $1.4402 late Tuesday, after the Ifo index, a key measure of Germany's business climate, slumped to a 22-month low due to the effects of rising inflation and the global credit crunch.

Cash-strapped banks took the Federal Reserve up on its offer of $20 billion in short-term loans to help them overcome credit problems, but the interest rate wasn't as low as some had hoped.

LONDON (Reuters) - Investor confidence sank to its lowest level in at least nine years in December, sapped ahead of the new year by fears of continued credit turmoil and a deteriorating world economy, State Street said on Tuesday.

European shares ended lower with banks such as HSBC Holdings under pressure amid growing doubts about whether a Fed-led move to pump up markets will ease the global credit crisis.

The Federal Reserve dropped its most important interest rate to a nearly two-year low on Tuesday and left the door open to additional cuts to prevent a housing and credit meltdown from pushing the economy into a recession. A disappointed Wall Street took a nosedive.

UK unemployment dropped more than twice as much as forecast to the lowest since 1975 in November as the strength of the economy encouraged companies to take on more workers. Claims for jobless benefits dropped 11,100 from October to 813,000, the Office for National Statistics said yesterday in London. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 30 economists was for a decline of 5,000. The jobless rate, at 2.5 percent, matched a 32-year low. Businesses are hiring staff as the economy heads for the fastest annual growth in three years. Bank of England policy makers lowered the key interest rate for the first time in more than two years last week on signs higher borrowing costs are set to constrain expansion, suggesting the labor market may weaken. "This suggests that the economy is robust, and the credit crisis hasn't had a severe impact on employment so far," said Jeavon Lolay, an economist at Lloyds TSB Group Plc in London. "We still see two rate cuts next

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve dropped its most important interest rate to a nearly two-year low on Tuesday and left the door open to additional cuts to prevent a housing and credit meltdown from pushing the economy into a recession.

U.S. employers hired at a moderate pace in November and the unemployment rate held steady at a relatively low 4.7 percent, reassuring signs for an economy that is fighting to avoid a recession.

Consumer confidence barely budged from a two-year low as housing troubles, a credit crunch, high energy prices and turbulence on Wall Street continue to make Americans uneasy about the economy and their own financial situations.

Consumer confidence barely budged from a two-year low as housing troubles, a credit crunch, high energy prices and turbulence on Wall Street continue to make people uneasy about the economy and their own financial situations.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Worker confidence stumbled to a record low in November, reflecting growing pessimism over jobs and personal finances stemming from housing and credit troubles, a survey released on Wednesday shows.

Reuters - Worker confidence stumbled to a record low in November, reflecting growing pessimism over jobs and personal finances stemming from housing and credit troubles, a survey released on Wednesday shows.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks opened to a second day of losses on Tuesday, as a spate of downgrades of financial firms fueled concerns about the credit market crisis, while updates from Nokia Corp. and Merck & Co. Inc. disappointed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 79 points to 13,270, as 26 of its 30 components opened in the red, weighed by the likes of Citigroup Inc. and JP Morgan Chase & Co. . Merck, also a Dow component, fell 2.3% after its 2008 earnings outlook was at the low end of analysts forecasts. The S&P 500 index lost 10 points to 1,462, while the Nasdaq Composite eased 21 points to 2,615.

AP - The economy barreled ahead in the summer, growing at a 4.9 percent pace. The performance was the strongest in four years but isn't expected to last through the current quarter amid the housing slump and credit crunch. New-home sales edged up in October but sales activity still hovered near an 11-year low.