Economics / Markets

European markets have paused for breath in early trading after yesterday's heavy sell off, as contagion fears in the eurozone resurfaced.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has joined the shareholder revolt over Barclays chief Bob Diamond's £17.7m pay deal.

The FTSE 100 fell 50 points, or just under 0.9%, in early trading on Tuesday as investors got their first opportunity to act on a disappointing US jobs report on Friday.

Economists have suggested scrapping bank holidays in the UK in order to boost the country's struggling economy by as much as £19bn a year.

The Bank of England has held interest rates at 0.5% and resisted another round of quantitative easing amid tentative signs of an improvement in the economic outlook.

The Bank of England is expected to resist unleashing extra emergency support for the economy today amid mixed signals over the fate of the recovery.

Global markets have continued on a downward trend as fears re-emerged about the state of European and the US economies.

HARD TO MISS

PANCAKES

The FTSE 100 has traded flat at the open after gaining 1.9% yesterday - a day which also saw leading US indices reach their highest levels in four years.