UK Mortgages rates and deals

The City watchdog last night took the drastic step of banning the short-selling of financial stocks at the end of a day that saw regulators and central banks fighting back against the storm in global markets

Lloyds TSB unveils details of its £12.2bn takeover of HBOS and plays down claims that 40,000 jobs will be cut.

The investors proposing to rescue Italian airline Alitalia withdraw their offer, raising fears the carrier may go into liquidation.

Short-selling of financial stocks is to be banned in the United Kingdom from midnight on Thursday night under rules drawn up by the Financial Services Authority

Morgan Stanley is in talks to sell a stake of up to 49 per cent to China Investment Corp, a state investment fund, as part of the Wall Street firm’s efforts to ensure its survival and reverse a slump in investor confidence

The US Federal Reserve is making available $180bn in extra funding to be pumped into overnight and longer-term money markets following the dramatic escalation of tensions following the collapse of Lehman, the rescue of AIG and the continuing crisis on Wall Street

Lloyds said it expected annual savings of ’significantly in excess of £1bn’ from its £12.2bn takeover of HBOS by 2011, but it had yet to decide on how many job losses would be involved