Topic: Credit

Applications for U.S. home mortgages rose last week, fueled by demand for refinancings as mortgage rates hit fresh record lows, an industry group said on Wednesday.

Banks are only lending money to those who don't need it, a trend that likely will be exacerbated by the recent JPMorgan Chase big trading loss, real estate magnate Donald Trump said.

Credit rating agency Fitch put the whole of the euro zone on notice on Friday that were Greece to leave the currency bloc as a result of its current crisis, the remaining countries could find their sovereign ratings at risk.

Applications for U.S. home mortgages rose last week, with purchase demand improving for the third week in a row as loan rates fell to new lows, an industry group said on Wednesday.

U.S. consumer credit shot up during March at the fastest rate since late 2001 as credit-card use, and student and car loans ballooned, data from the Federal Reserve showed on Monday.

Plans to give shareholders more power over boardroom pay will be given centre stage in the Queen’s Speech, as highly paid executives face another week of lambasting from shareholders, the Financial Times reports.

The credit and debit card company reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street's expectations on Wednesday, sending its shares higher in extended-hours trading.

MasterCard, the world's second-largest credit and debit card network, reported higher quarterly profits as consumers spent more with their cards.

Applications for U.S. home mortgages edged up last week, boosted by stronger demand for purchases for the second week in a row, an industry group said on Wednesday.

While the French presidential elections are drawing the attention of most in Europe, local elections in the UK, though unlikely to change the shape of Britain’s coalition government, could put pressure on its economic policy.

Lloyds Banking Group announced it had set aside a further 375 million pounds ($608 million) to cover mis-sold insurance products as it announced a 288 million pound ($465 million) profit for the first quarter on Tuesday. The figure was down on the previous year’s 316 million pound first quarter profit but was generally in line with the bank’s own expectations.

Standard & Poor’s ratings agency denied on Friday it had not taken into account the recent reforms Spain had announced when it downgraded the country for the second time this year, saying Spain’s weaker-than-expected economic outlook and rising risks in the banking system had added to concerns and prompted the downgrade.

Britain's economy slid into its second recession since the financial crisis after official data unexpectedly showed a fall in output in the first three months of 2012, piling pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron's embattled coalition government.

Credit Suisse's first-quarter net profit shrank, as a 1.5 billion Swiss franc loss on its own debt ate into profits.

Indebted governments will have to find ways of "rigging the financial system to suit themselves," because there is no decent economic growth, according to HSBC Chief Economist Stephen King.