Wednesday newspaper round-up: City jobs freeze, falling land prices, 'heatwave' boost

The City jobs market is in the doldrums as a result of the Brexit referendum, as banks and other finance firms freeze hiring amid the economic uncertainty. The number of new jobs on the market dived by 27% compared with July of 2015, according to recruiters Morgan McKinley. It found just 7,890 new jobs last month, down from 10,920 a year earlier, and down from 9,060 on the month. - Telegraph

The Bank of England’s post-Brexit economic recovery plan got off to a stumbling start when it was unable to buy as many government bonds as it needed from major City investors. Threadneedle Street will spell out on Wednesday how it plans to get reluctant investors to part with government bonds – also known as gilts – in order to provide additional stimulus to the economy under its new £60bn quantitative easing (QE) programme. - Guardian

Land prices for UK residential development are falling after Brexit uncertainty prompted housebuilders to take a more cautious approach to land buying. The largest drop came in London, where the price of prime central land fell 6.9 per cent in the three months to June , bringing the drop over 12 months to 9.4 per cent, according to the Knight Frank residential development land index. - Financial Times

The challenge facing UK trade negotiators following the EU referendum has been spelled out by a report from one of the country’s leading thinktanks, showing that membership of the European single market is worth an additional 4% of GDP to the economy. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that Britain could enjoy the same sort of access to the world’s biggest market on the same World Trade Organisation terms as other non-EU member states such as the US, China or India. - Guardian

A late summer heatwave could deliver a £290m boost for food retailers as Brits rush out to stock up on barbecues, burgers and cold beers. Many high street retailers have complained of a wet June and mixed July dampening sales, but food retailers are holding out hopes that the mercury will start to rise again in August. When average temperatures rise above 21 degrees, food sales also lift by 10pc, according to an analysis by the Co-op. - Telegraph

BP, the UK energy group, is planning to sell one of its biggest Chinese investments, by disposing of its 50 per cent stake in the Secco petrochemicals plant near Shanghai. BP is the latest western oil company to curtail activity in China, as energy groups reel from low crude and petrochemical prices. China’s slow liberalisation of its energy sector has disappointed investors. - Financial Times

Billionaire landowner the Duke of Westminster, Britain’s third-richest man and the world's 68th richest, has died at the age of 64, leaving his only son Hugh Grosvenor, a godfather to Prince George, to inherits his father’s title and a £9bn estate that includes Among properties across the UK he owned 190 acres in Belgravia. The Grosvenor family accrued much of their London wealth through the marriage of Sir Thomas Grosvenor to the heiress Mary Davies in 1677.

Three hundred more final salary company pension schemes have fallen into deficit in the past year while the aggregate shortfall in the near-6,000 schemes now in the red has worsened to £408 billion, according to the latest analysis of the health of traditional retirement plans. Plunging gilt yields, which are used to value pension liabilities, led to the latest deterioration in schemes, which by one measure are in their greatest difficulties since the financial crisis. - The Times

The recent terrorist attacks in Europe together with the zika virus and Brexit are causing a sharp drop-off in demand from North Americans for Mediterranean cruises, a Miami-based operator has warned. Norwegian Cruise Lines blamed “successive geopolitical events” for cutting its profit forecast and abandoning its financial targets for 2017. - The Times

Even as distressed asset woes at state-owned banks cash a shadow over India’s economic outlook, other financial companies are seeing opportunities for profit — either by taking market share from struggling state lenders or through buying their assets at knockdown prices. State-controlled banks, which account for 70 per cent of India’s banking assets, are suffering the fallout from a surge in lending for much of the past decade to companies in sectors such as steel and infrastructure, many of which have struggled to service their debt after projects were delayed. - Financial Times

Measures to improve competition in high street banking by making it easier for customers to compare offers online have been attacked for not going far enough. Rejecting radical measures such as breaking up big banks or ending free in-credit banking, the Competition and Markets Authority yesterday ordered banks to share customers’ information with third parties from 2018 to make it easier for them to find better deals. - The Times

More than a third of graduates regret going to university, and half reckon they would have landed their current job without having to study for a degree, according to damning research into the finances of the millennial generation. The research by insurance company Aviva was published days before hundreds of thousands of A-level students discover if they have obtained the grades needed for their desired university course.