Chancellor George Osborne is expected to claim today he has saved the taxpayer £21.5bn in debt interest payments.

S&P has downgraded Belgium's credit rating by one notch, to AA from AA+, expressing concerns about funding and market pressures.

The winners of the Investment Week Investment Trust Awards 2011 were announced at a glittering ceremony in London last night.

Jim O'Neill, the head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, has predicted China could overtake the US as the world's largest economy by 2027 and urged a rethink of the G7 away from domination by the West.

Phoenix Group, the closed ended fund consolidator, is considering a takeover offer, believed to be around £1bn, from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners after a bid from rival Resolution fell through.

Gold ETFs and similar products witnessed inflows of 77.6 tonnes in the third quarter of 2011, which was 58% above year-earlier levels of 49.1 tonnes.

John Paulson, the billionaire hedge fund manager, cut his holdings in a gold ETF during the third quarter.

The euro weakened this morning as the cost of insuring French bonds climbed to a record, Spanish yields rose and european equities retreated for a second day.

The Bank of England has been forced to cut growth forecasts for the UK to 1% amid fears of a double-dip recession brought on by the eurozone crisis.

L&G has made an approach for Cofunds, in which it has a 25% stake, in a deal which could value the supermarket at up to £200m, according to reports.