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Foreign property owners in continental Europe could face a devaluation of 50 percent on their homes if Greece was to leave the Euro, according to new figures from HiFX.

Martin Barraud | Getty Images

Data released today from a survey of British foreign property owners showed that 39 percent were trying to sell up in Greece, 34 percent in Spain and 23 percent in Portugal.

James Price, Head of International Residential Development at Knight Frank, told CNBCs Squawk Box Europe that the numbers of people wanting to sell up and the drop in value of foreign property reflects the pressure on the housing market by the euro zone debt crisis.

There are different levels in the market and I think that for the mass market of home owners overseas that there may well be issues for them around needing to sell and get out and I think there is quite a lot of pressure on them and they are having to reflect that in the asking prices that they are offering.

Home owners now had to be more realistic about where the buyers actually are versus where the property might be he said.

Price added that there was still room for investment in property abroad, with prime destinations around Europe still offering firm prices but that there was much more caution.

What people are looking at now is the security of their asset in the long term. In the prime areas people are now looking at properties that they are going to use themselves, its about their own enjoyment.

2012 CNBC.com

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British Expats Rush to Sell Euro Properties

by Amy Davenport

Lloyds TSB is pleased to announce the appointment of May Hooper to the position of Senior Relationship Manager of Corporate Banking, Financial Institutions and Foreign Exchange. Ms Hooper has over 25 years experience in the offshore finance sector, having previously worked predominantly within treasury and business development roles in the banking and insurance industry.

Ms Hooper joined the ever expanding Lloyds TSB corporate banking team at Victory House on Prospect Hill six months ago after spending seven years with AIB International Savings, formerly Anglo Irish Bank. There she was responsible for both the establishment and running of the foreign exchange desk coupled with corporate relationship management. Her previous role at Lloyds TSB saw Ms Hoopers role develop to entail the management of financial institutional clients within the life assurance industry, captive insurance market and the funds sector, amongst others.

In addition to her practical experience, Ms Hooper also holds a number of professional qualifications including the ACI Dealing Certificate; a qualification which allows candidates to acquire a working knowledge of the structure and operation of the major foreign exchange and money markets, including the application of the fundamental mathematics used in these markets, and their core products. She is currently studying for the full ACI Diploma, which she hopes to complete this year.

Commenting on her new position, Ms Hooper stated: I would just like to say that I am extremely pleased with my promotion and that I am looking forward to the challenges that this new position brings with it. I am very fortunate to work within a very friendly team who work very hard and aim to deliver excellent rates and service to existing clients and new clients alike.

Lloyds TSB Isle of Mans Head of Corporate Banking, Mr Simon Prescott, also commented on Ms Hoopers appointment: We are delighted to offer May the position of Senior Relationship Manager at Lloyds TSBs corporate banking team. The promotion reflects the drive, energy and considerable expertise she has brought to the team since joining us six months ago and will significantly enhance our offering to the Islands Financial Institutions and larger companies. On behalf of our team and Lloyds TSB as a whole, I would like to take this opportunity to once again welcome May and wish her every success with us in the future.

- Ends -

I would just like to say that I am extremely pleased with my promotion and that I am looking forward to the challenges that this new position brings with it."

May Hooper, Senior Relationship Manager of Corporate Banking, Financial Institutions and Foreign Exchange

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Lloyds TSB Appoints May Hooper to Senior Relationship Manager

Stocks closed mixed Wednesday after a late rally erased steep losses. The Dow lost seven points to close at 12496

By Matthew Craft,AP Business writer, Pallavi Gogoi,AP Business writer / May 23, 2012

A big final-hour comeback pulled the Dow Jones industrial average nearly back to where it started Wednesday.

The Dow was down as much as 191 points earlier as the threat of a financial crisis spreading from Europe shook markets. The euro dropped to a nearly two-year low against the dollar, and oil prices sank to their lowest this year.

A late surge of buying erased nearly all of the Dow's deficit, leaving it down just 6.66 points at 12,496.15 by the end of the day. Other indexes ended slightly higher.

In the last hour of trading, news crossed that the leaders of France and Italy favored using region-wide bonds to support Europe's economy. That gave traders hope that a summit of European leaders might produce concrete steps to tackle the economic morass there. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned Tuesday that the 17 countries that use the euro risk falling into a "severe recession."

Analysts and investors have turned increasingly skeptical this month that European leaders will prevent Greece from dropping the euro or agree on ways to jump-start the region's economy. The Dow has lost 5 percent this month, nearly wiping away its gains for the year. It has risen only three days in May.

Plenty of good ideas to buttress Europe's financial system have been floated in recent weeks, said Paul Zemsky, global head of asset allocation at ING Investment Management. Eurobonds could be sold by countries in the currency union to raise money for bailouts and banks. Some have proposed insuring bank deposits across countries that use the euro, a program modeled on the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

"There are all these great ideas," Zemsky said. "But there's nothing yet. There's a lot of talk and no follow through."

Benchmark stock indexes dropped more than 2 percent in Germany and France and 3 percent in Spain and Italy.

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Stocks rally to erase steep losses

By Corrie Driebusch and Nathalie Tadena

Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Thursdays session are Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Pandora Media Inc. (P) and Tiffany & Co. (TIF).

Hewlett-Packard unveiled plans to lay off 27,000 employees and said it was cautiously optimistic about its future despite a 31% slump in its fiscal second-quarter earnings. Shares were up 8.2% to $22.80 premarket as earnings beat the companys expectations and as the company raised its full-year view.

Pandora posted a widened quarterly loss on Wednesday, though the Internet radio firms results included a fast-growing sales figure that topped Wall Street expectations. Shares jumped 15% to $11.93 premarket.

Tiffanys fiscal first-quarter earnings edged up 0.6% and the high-end jewelry retailer reduced its full-year expectations, citing slowing economic growth in many countries and softness in U.S. operations. Shares dropped 7% to $57.50 premarket.

NetApp Inc. (NTAP) joined a growing list of technology companies issuing bleak financial guidance, citing ongoing economic uncertaintyespecially in Europefor a disappointing current-quarter outlook. Shares sank 17% premarket to $27.20 as a weak forecast overshadowed the data-storage makers fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, which grew 13% on stronger revenue in all three major businesses.

Signet Jewelers Ltd.s (SIG, SIG.LN) fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 9.4% despite modest sales growth amid a calendar shift for the Mothers Day selling season. Shares were down nearly 10% in recent premarket trading as revenue missed expectations the Signet estimated fiscal second-quarter earnings below analysts views.

MediciNova Inc. (MNOV) said the preliminary results from a Phase 2b clinical study did not yield statistically significant results for its MN-221 asthma treatment. Shares of the biopharmaceutical company slumped 43% to $1.57 premarket.

PVH Corp.s (PVH) fiscal first-quarter earnings jumped 61% as the apparel company saw continued growth in its two key labels. Shares rose 4% to $80.48 in premarket trading as the company boosted its full-year guidance and beat its guidance.

Monro Muffler Brake Inc.s (MNRO) fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 27% as the automotive services company saw a boost from acquisitions and higher brake sales. The results fell short of expectations, however, and the company said higher gas prices and economic woes would affect customer purchasing decisions and pressure earnings in the near term. Shares slipped 1.4% to $36.50 premarket.

Originally posted here:
Stocks to Watch: Hewlett-Packard, Pandora, Tiffany

LONDON (ShareCast) - -JP Morgan suggests ECB rate cut, LTRO restart -EU leaders make little progress -UK contracts more than expected in Q1 An underwhelming EU summit and a barrage of disappointing economic figures failed to hold back gains on Thursday, as the Footsie (FTSE: ^FTSE - news) rebounded following yesterday's steep sell-off. Comments from JP Morgan boosted buying late on after the US bank said in a research note that the European Central Bank (ECB) is likely to react to the ongoing crisis by cutting interest rates and launching another round of cheap funding operations (otherwise known as LTROs). Given the economic data released today, "the ECB will feel more pressure to deliver a monetary response, even though it feels that it has already done a lot to support the region. This response could, for example, be done through interest rate cuts or through further liquidity measures," analyst Greg Fuzesi said. There was also speculation that the EU could look at increasing the resources of the European Investment Bank to bolster investment in infrastructure. Meanwhile, the outcome of last night's informal meeting of the European Council was as expected, with leaders reiterating their stance that they want to keep Greece in the Eurozone as long as it meets the terms of its bailout. The 'eurobonds' issue was a contentious topic, with French and German leaders clashing over the joint debt sales. Several economic reports from home and abroad disappointed today - though that wasn't seen in equity markets - painting a gloomy picture of the global economy: Chinese manufacturing slipped further into contraction; Germany's IFO business index fell sharply; while purchasing managers' indices across the Eurozone came in weak. In the UK, the Office for National Statistics revealed that first-quarter estimate of gross domestic product was revised lower, from -0.2% to -0.3%. Economists had been expecting the initial reading to be confirmed. Economic data from the US was a little better though, helping Wall Street stocks broadly higher after the opening bell; both durable orders and jobless claims data were in line with consensus expectations. FTSE 100 (Euronext: VFTSE.NX - news) : Resources (Euronext: ERS.NX - news) stocks gain as gold and oil prices advance

Randgold Resources (Xetra: A0B5ZS - news) surged today, tracking gold prices higher. Data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF (Berlin: MXG1.BE - news) ) showed today that central banks in Turkey, Ukraine, Mexico and Kazakhstan were building their positions in the precious metal in April on the back of its safe-haven appeal. Stocks in the oil sector were also making gains today as crude prices picked up after the P5+1 group of world powers - China, France, Germany, Russia, UK and US - continued to argue with Iran over its nuclear programme. Oil and gas E&P peers BP and BG Group (Hamburg: BGO.HM - news) were among the best performers, both gaining around 3%; oil services firm Amec (LSE: AMEC.L - news) was also wanted. Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) was on the up after extending the offer deadline for AIM-listed Cove Energy (Berlin: LPC.BE - news) after its previously recommended offer was trumped by Thai firm PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) on Wednesday. "With the Euro crisis set to continue, at least until June 17th when the second round of Greek elections will be held, we can expect to see Oil and Gold fall further as the dollar is expected to continue to appreciate making all dollar priced commodities effectively more expensive," said analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari. United Utilities was higher after saying that it has seen a marked improvement in customer satisfaction in the last year or so, and it is on track to meet regulatory out-performance targets. Financial stocks, having borne the brunt of risk aversion in yesterday's session, were performing well today. Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) , Admiral (LSE: ADM.L - news) , Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) and HSBC (LSE: HSBA.L - news) were making gains, while Standard Chartered (Xetra: 859123 - news) was lifted higher after JP Morgan reiterated its overweight rating on the stock. FTSE 250 (FTSE: ^FTMC - news) : C&W Comms surges after full-year results

International mobile operator Cable & Wireless Communications rocketed after underlying earnings came in at $901m in the year to the end of March, better than the $887m estimate. Investors didn't seem too phased that the group expects to halve its dividend in the current year. Food wholesaler Booker was also in demand after saying that increased customer numbers and higher internet sales helped revenue increase by 7.3% in the 52 weeks to March 23rd. FTSE 100 - Risers Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,170.00p +8.00% Vedanta Resources (EUREX: VR9F.EX - news) (VED) 999.50p +5.04% Prudential (LSE: PRU.L - news) (PRU) 686.00p +3.39% BP (BP.) 407.00p +3.33% BG Group (BG.) 1,269.00p +3.21% Wolseley (Berlin: WLY1.BE - news) (WOS) 2,272.00p +2.95% United Utilities Group (UU.) 637.00p +2.74% Fresnillo (Frankfurt: A0MVZE - news) (FRES) 1,347.00p +2.67% Barclays (BARC) 185.30p +2.66% ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM.L - news) (ARM) 495.20p +2.65% FTSE 100 - Fallers Rexam (Xetra: 860000 - news) (REX) 393.90p -1.33% Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 238.40p -1.20% IMI (Xetra: 389425.DE - news) (IMI (EUREX: IMIF.EX - news) ) 894.00p -1.16% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL (Shenzhen: 002105.SZ - news) .) 466.10p -0.68% Evraz (EVR) 308.70p -0.61% Man Group (LSE: EMG.L - news) (EMG) 72.70p -0.55% GKN (Xetra: 694194 - news) (GKN (LSE: GKN.L - news) ) 183.20p -0.49% Antofagasta (Xetra: 867578 - news) (ANTO) 1,027.00p -0.48% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,380.00p -0.32% Burberry Group (LSE: BRBY.L - news) (BRBY) 1,365.00p -0.29% FTSE 250 - Risers Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 33.01p +17.64% Booker Group (BOK) 78.45p +7.47% Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 135.10p +4.89% Hunting (LSE: HTG.L - news) (HTG) 785.00p +4.67% QinetiQ Group (Other OTC: QNTQF.PK - news) (QQ.) 152.00p +4.61% Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 475.30p +4.21% Dunelm Group (Berlin: DFQ.BE - news) (DNLM) 505.00p +4.12% TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 146.20p +3.91% Investec (Frankfurt: A0J32R - news) (INVP) 325.90p +3.62% RPS Group (Frankfurt: 874849 - news) (RPS) 206.30p +3.36% FTSE 250 - Fallers Homeserve (Dusseldorf: XHSA.DU - news) (HSV) 144.00p -4.70% Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 72.20p -3.48% Spirit Pub Company (SPRT) 50.25p -3.37% COLT Group SA (COLT) 114.90p -3.20% Home Retail Group (EUREX: HOMF.EX - news) (HOME) 75.40p -3.08% Ocado Group (Xetra: A1C2GZ - news) (OCDO) 104.70p -2.88% Bumi (BUMI) 398.90p -2.45% PZ Cussons (LSE: PZC.L - news) (PZC) 316.80p -2.34% Kesa Electricals (Other OTC: KESAF.PK - news) (KESA) 49.03p -2.33% Redrow (Xetra: 906188 - news) (RDW) 112.20p -2.18% BC

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London close: Stocks surge as JPMorgan hints at ECB stimulus