UK house price growth

British house prices fell unexpectedly last month, according to mortgage lender Halifax.

but were still almost 10 percent higher than a year ago, mortgage lender Halifax said on Thursday.

House prices fell 1.4 percent in February, in stark contrast to January’s 1.7 percent increase. However, prices remained almost 10 percent higher than this time last year, with annual house price growth remaining steady at 9.7 percent over the last quarter.

Weak services growth in China

More disappointing data has emerged from China this morning, this time showing that services business activity growth has slowed since January.

as manufacturers report further fall in output

Composite employment has fallen at its quickest rate in six months, with manufacturers reporting a sharp fall in output. Input costs have also increased at the composite level for the first time in 18 months.

The latest figures from Caixin’s China General Services Business Activity Index, released this morning, show the figure for China falling to 51.2, from January’s six-month high of 52.4. However, the figure remains above the 50 needed to indicate growth, rather than stagnation.

Agreement reached over Brazil mud-slide

The joint owners of a Brazilian mine which breached a dam and started a deadly mudslide have agreed to pay 4.4 billion reais in damages to the Brazilian government, for what has been seen as the country’s worst environmental disaster.

The figure is much lower than the 20 billion reais originally wanted by Brazil as reparation. In November, the mine caused two dams to burst, wiping out the town of Mariana and killing 19 people. In February, a police investigation found a Samarco executive negligent in his actions.

03/03/2016