Monday newspaper round-up: Rightmove, Tata, Uber, Clydesdale bank

More properties have become available for first-time buyers and prices have stopped rising, in what the property website Rightmove says is the first evidence that the chancellor’s clampdown on buy-to-let is working. Rightmove said there had been a 6.6% jump in “fresh-to-the-market” two-bed flats over the past year, the most sought-after sector in the first-time buyer market. - Guardian

The boss of Nisa has predicted further consolidation in the “crowded” convenience sector after the retail chain swung back into the black over Christmas. Nick Read, who joined as chief executive in February last year, said that the intense price war in the grocery market and changing shopping behaviours would fuel further dealmaking. - Telegraph

The government is poised to come under fresh pressure to help the steel industry with workers braced for further job losses. Tata is expected to announce around 1,000 job cuts at plants including Port Talbot and Llanwern in south Wales. – Guardian

Uber has hit back at accusations from Boris Johnson that the ride-hailing service is a significant cause of congestion in the capital, setting the stage for a potential showdown between the mayor of London and the San Francisco-based start-up. A long-awaited traffic study of Manhattan — ordered last year by Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York — has concluded that Uber and its rivals have not added markedly to congestion in the Big Apple. – The Times

Clydesdale Bank is set to slash its value when it pushes ahead with its flotation in the face of turbulent market conditions today. National Australia Bank, which owns the British lender, had hoped to achieve a price of about £2.2 billion for Clydesdale, which will become the UK’s biggest standalone challenger bank. However, investors have said that the price will have to come down by several hundred million pounds. – The Times

A senior cardinal chosen by Pope Francis to manage the Vatican’s finances has launched into a spirited defence of free markets, countering the perception that the Catholic church under the Argentine pontiff has turned against capitalism and business. George Pell, the head of the Holy See’s secretariat for the economy, told a conference hosted by The Global Foundation in Rome on Sunday that “no better model is available at the moment” than market economies, citing their capacity to “rejuvenate” after the Great Depression and recent global financial crisis, and their failure to produce the “massive alienation” predicted by Karl Marx. – Financial Times

SpaceX announced a successful satellite launch on Sunday — but failed an attempted sea-landing of a rocket booster, missing a goal that has repeatedly eluded the grasp of the Los Angeles-based rocket company. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been focused on mastering the art of returning booster rockets on Earth after a launch, in the hope this will enable the company to lower costs by re-using these rockets. – Financial Times