We have been wondering whether or not there might be a major selloff before this market decline is over, and today has seen a huge fall on the FTSE 100 index as another slew of bad news comes in. There has been talk of another wedge of major writedowns in the banks sector both here and in the US, and talk of imminent UK recession has been rife.
Persimmon is down again even though it said it did not expect to announce any significant write down of its land values with its next interim results. It has now cut 1,100 jobs to save £20m per year, but with H1sales down a hefty 34% on the comparative period last year, the outlook is bleak and the shares look set for more new lows. Estate agent Savills has added to those sentiments as trading conditions for its UK and US Commercial Capital Markets businesses and its UK Residential and Mortgage Broking businesses have continued to deteriorate, with volumes down significantly on the comparable period in 2007. It said that predictions for the full year outcome were very difficult and this is a sector also deep in trouble.