The US housing market downturn could last for at least another year, HSBC predicted on Monday as it revealed it had set aside $5.8bn due to credit turmoil in the current quarter. The bank, one of the first to suffer from the US subprime mortgage meltdown, said any recovery in the US housing market was unlikely this year. HSBC’s US business had set aside $3.2bn in bad debt provisions in the first quarter - double the amount it provided in the first three months of this year but lower than the $4.6bn set aside in Q4 2007. The Times reports that activist investor Knight Vinke says HSBC undervalued its US mortgage losses by $30bn. The FT’s banking editor discusses HSBC’s outlook on View of the Day.
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