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Back to Neil Woodford. mentioned earlier.

He set up his own firm after leaving Invesco. The Financial Times has been speaking to Mark Barnett, who took over the funds, in 2014.

The FT says Mr Barnett sought to distance himself from the crisis engulfing his mentor by insisting that his funds have a much more “balanced” approach.

“My funds are much more diversified [than Mr Woodford’s] and employ a more balanced portfolio approach,” Mr Barnett told the Financial Times.

“The Invesco High Income and Income funds offer plenty of value and clients are happy to support us. I am confident that my team will deliver the results that clients want,” he said.

The industry is working on a voluntary agreement to make the cost of overdraft borrowing easier to understand for consumers which will be implemented in April 2020. This will build on the range of measures already introduced by the industry, such as text alerts which have been shown to reduce overdraft charges by 25%. Overdrafts can provide a convenient way for customers to smooth their short-term cashflow, and there is a highly competitive market in the UK with over 96 products on offer. We would always urge customers to speak to their bank and arrange an overdraft in advance to ensure payments are honoured.”

BBC

Back to Neil Woodford,

Shares in Woodford Patient Capital Trust have fallen another 3%.

They have been falling since the suspension of his flagship Equity Income Fund earlier in the week.

The chart shows the price of Woodford Patient Capital - the only listed fund owned by Woodford's firm - over the past month.

PANTHEONMACROECONOMICS

Back to Halifax house price data.

Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, says: "It’s still impossible to reconcile Halifax’s data with any of the other measures of house price growth".

He says he doesn't have a strong view as to why the difference - shown in the chart - is taking place.

"We still expect year-over-year growth in house prices to strengthen to about 1.5% by the end of this year, given that households’ real incomes still are rising at a solid rate, while the recent decline in interest rate expectations should reduce mortgage rates soon," he said.

PA

More from Russell Galley, managing director of Halifax, on house prices.

He says industry-wide figures suggest there has been no real change in the number of homes being sold month to month, while Bank of England data show the number of mortgages being approved rose by almost 6% in April, reversing the softness seen in the previous month.

That's after the Halifax's house price index showed a 5.2% increase in average house prices over the last year - the fastest growth seen since 2017.

But, as mentioned earlier, Halifax cautioned the growth figure was flattered by weak performance last year.

Rival Nationwide put the annual price increase at 0.6% in its data last week.

“Looking ahead, we expect the current trend of stability based on high employment and low interest rates to persist over the coming months, though clearly any downturn in the wider economy would be keenly felt in the housing market," said Mr Galley.