2025-10-07 06:32
LONDON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - British house prices rose by a slower-than-expected 1.3% in the 12 months to September, the weakest annual increase since April 2024, as economic and tax uncertainty overshadowed the market, figures from mortgage lender Halifax showed on Tuesday. Prices unexpectedly fell in month-on-month terms, dropping by 0.3% from August. Sign up here. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast prices would be 2.2% higher than a year earlier and rise 0.2% on the month. In August prices rose by 2.0% compared with August 2024 and by a monthly 0.2%. British house prices have increased more slowly this year than they did in the second half of 2024 when they were rising by between 4% and 5% annually due to worries about the economy and potentially more tax on properties with finance minister Rachel Reeves looking to shore up her budget in November. "Although the broader economic outlook remains uncertain, with the affordability picture gradually improving we continue to expect modest growth through the remainder of the year," Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said. Ashley Webb, an economist with Capital Economics, said the weak price data followed other indications that Britain's slowing jobs market, still high borrowing costs and tax hike speculation were weighing on demand for housing. "Tax rises in the budget would dent real household disposable incomes and weigh on the housing market next year," Webb said. House prices in London rose by 0.6% from 12 months earlier while the strongest growth was reported in Northern Ireland where prices rose by 6.5%, Halifax said. Data from rival mortgage lender Nationwide published last week showed that prices rose by 0.5% in September alone, pushing annual house price inflation up to 2.2%. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-house-prices-rise-by-least-since-april-2024-halifax-says-2025-10-07/
2025-10-07 06:20
AMSTERDAM, Oct 7 (Reuters) - The Netherlands will cull around 71,000 chickens at a poultry farm in the northern part of the country following the detection of bird flu, the government said in a statement on Tuesday. This marks the first outbreak of bird flu in the Netherlands since March of this year. Sign up here. The government has so far not imposed a nationwide requirement to keep poultry indoors, stating that this outbreak does not warrant such a measure. However, an expert group on animal diseases will meet soon to assess the risk. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/netherlands-cull-71000-chickens-after-bird-flu-detection-2025-10-07/
2025-10-07 06:00
BRUSSELS, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Dutch cryptocurrency company Amdax, which plans to launch a bitcoin treasury company called AMBTS on the Dutch exchange, has raised 30 million euros ($35 million) in financing, it said on Tuesday, highlighting the persistent appeal of Bitcoin. Amdax said the closing of its initial financing round for AMBTS meant it was ready to start its programme of buying Bitcoin, which has hit record highs this month, breaching through the $125,000 price level. Sign up here. "The closing of this round is an important milestone," said CEO and AMBTS co-founder Lucas Wensing. "We now move forward with our bitcoin strategy, aiming to offer investors transparent access to this unique asset class," he added in a statement. Amdax will join a host of companies buying bitcoin for their treasury reserves, such as Dutch-based firm Treasury, backed by the U.S. billionaire Winklevoss twins, Strive (ASST.O) , opens new tab, which is backed by former Republican U.S. presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and Michael Saylor's company Strategy (MSTR.O) , opens new tab. ($1=0.8554 euros) https://www.reuters.com/business/dutch-crypto-firm-amdaxs-ambts-raises-30-mln-euros-funding-2025-10-07/
2025-10-07 05:52
HANOI, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Torrential rains triggered by Typhoon Matmo flooded parts of Hanoi on Tuesday, the latest in a series of deluges that have inundated the Vietnamese capital over the past month as a run of storms has swept across the country's northern regions. Heavy downpours flooded major roads, leaving motorbikes and cars stranded and forcing residents to wade through calf-deep water. Inner-city districts have been particularly affected, with drainage struggling to handle the volume of rain. Sign up here. "It's a loop - rains come, streets flood and people desperately try to get by," said Nguyen Ngoc Long, a Hanoi resident. "I fear this will soon become a norm for us." Several schools in the capital closed or shifted to online teaching, while several flights from and to Noi Bai International Airport have been delayed or rescheduled. Last week, there was severe flooding in Hanoi due to Typhoon Bualoi, which killed at least 51 people in Vietnam and caused approximately $600 million of damage. Many families had just finished cleaning up mud and debris from Bualoi before Matmo brought another wave of heavy rains. The weather agency has forecast rain and thunderstorms in Hanoi throughout Tuesday morning, warning of potential floods in low-lying areas, and said that up to three more storm systems were expected to hit the country before the end of 2025. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/hanoi-flooded-again-storm-season-brings-more-rain-vietnams-north-2025-10-07/
2025-10-07 05:50
BANGKOK, Oct 7 (Reuters) - The death toll from floods in Thailand has risen to 22, authorities said on Tuesday as they rushed to get relief to an estimated 370,000 people affected by heavy rainfall and overflowing rivers. Nineteen provinces were affected, the Disaster Prevention Department said, with Uttaradit and Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, among the worst-hit areas. Sign up here. Authorities said emergency teams were distributing food and supplies, and were closely monitoring water levels as the monsoon season brings widespread rainfall. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/death-toll-thailand-floods-22-relief-efforts-underway-2025-10-07/
2025-10-07 05:35
Yen hits seven-month low against dollar Euro weakens on France debt worries Traders await end of US federal government shutdown NEW YORK, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Concerns about the fiscal outlook in Japan sent the yen to a more than seven month low against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday and political uncertainty in France dented the euro, with traders also focused on any signs of when the U.S. federal government will reopen. The yen has tumbled since Sanae Takaichi’s leadership victory in Japan on Saturday. Sign up here. Takaichi, who is expected to become Japan's next prime minister, has pledged to boost the Japanese economy with aggressive spending and has been critical of the Bank of Japan's interest rate hikes. "There's going to be a period of time where (investors) try and figure out how exactly her policies will affect the currency," said Lou Brien, strategist at DRW Trading in Chicago. Money market traders are now pricing in a 26% chance that the BoJ will raise interest rates at its next policy meeting on October 30, down from around 60% before Takaichi's leadership victory. Against the Japanese yen , the dollar was last up 1% to 151.86 and reached 151.93, the highest since February 19. Still, some analysts said that the Bank of Japan is likely to continue hiking interest rates as it battles relatively high inflation. "For this month, the BoJ will perhaps stay on hold just to be on the safe side but in December they'll get a bit more data and I think they'll deliver another hike," said Mohamad Al-Saraf, forex research associate at Danske Bank. "Inflation is still too high, rates are still too low, and the case for another BoJ hike this year is still alive." Japan's finance minister said authorities were watching out for excessive moves in currency markets. EURO ON THE BACK FOOT The euro remained on a fragile footing following the resignation of France's prime minister on Monday, adding to pressure on President Emmanuel Macron and putting fiscal consolidation in doubt. France is now likely to miss a deadline to present its 2026 budget bill, meaning lawmakers will need to pass emergency stopgap legislation to authorize spending from January 1 until a full budget is approved. The single currency was last down 0.43% at $1.1659. The dollar index rose 0.46% to 98.57. The U.S. currency has weakened this year on concerns about a deteriorating fiscal outlook, expectations of slowing growth and fears that President Donald Trump's tariff policies will scare investors away from U.S. assets. That move has paused since the end of June with the greenback largely consolidating against most major peers, said DRW's Brien. Brien expects dollar weakness to resume, however, on a weakening labor market. "The labor market here is weaker and will continue to be weaker than is generally appreciated. And not only will you get a likely very dovish Fed chair to replace (Jerome) Powell next year, but in between now and then I think Fed policy will probably be a little bit easier than is currently being priced in." So far markets have largely shrugged off the government shutdown, however the longer it continues the more likely it will also hurt the greenback "because you'll get a weaker economic performance," Brien said. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his administration plans to eliminate a number of government programs as a result of the ongoing shutdown, adding that he would provide details of job cuts within the next four or five days. The shutdown delayed last Friday's closely watched monthly jobs report for September and is set to postpone other key releases until the government reopens. A New York Federal Reserve survey released on Tuesday found that Americans grew more worried about the future of the job market in September, while at the same time bumping up projections for the future path of near-term inflation. Fed Governor Stephen Miran on Tuesday said that he is more sanguine about others about the outlook for inflation and said the U.S. bond market’s current relative calm supports a swift push to lower interest rates. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell 3.51% to $120,8601 after reaching a record $126,223.18 on Monday. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/yen-slides-2-month-low-japan-election-angst-2025-10-07/
