Economics / Markets

The UK inflation rate dropped to 1.9% in January, marking the first time it has fallen below the Bank of England's target of 2% since November 2009.

It is "not unreasonable" for investors to anticipate a 2% base rate as early as 2016, but increasing rates is still considered a last resort to tame the housing market, according to Bank of England policymaker David Miles.

Important lessons have already been learnt this year

The first few months of 2014 have seen a gold rally. Will it continue?

Britain must see a business recovery before interest rates can begin to rise, according to Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England.

Japan's economy grew less than expected at the end of last year, highlighting potential weaknesses in Prime Minister Abe's economic policies.

Thanks to investors hungry for better returns, high yield bonds have performed strongly over the last year. More and more companies are issuing corporate bonds in that space. But how long can the good times last?

Weaker US data and ongoing expectations of tighter UK monetary policy have helped boost gold and sterling respectively as the dollar loses ground.

Henderson Strategic Bond fund manager John Pattullo has moved aggressively in to gilts in a bid to hedge against a worldwide deflationary shock caused by the chaos in emerging markets.

Contrarian views on the UK from Fidelity's Alex Wright