Economics / Markets

The decision by Standard & Poor's to strip France of its prized AAA-rating came as no surprise to a number of fund managers.

The UK is already back in recession and will not see any interest rate rises until at least 2016, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).

The financial crisis engulfing the eurozone took a fresh twist last night after Standard & Poor's cut the credit rating on nine eurozone countries, including France's AAA rating, and Greece's debt talks collapsed without agreement.

Standard & Poor's has downgraded the credit ratings of a raft of eurozone nations including Italy, Spain and Portugal as well as stripping France and Austria of their AAA status.

Schroders' Richard Buxton has revealed the top ten stocks he is backing in his £2.7bn UK Alpha Plus fund heading into 2012.

Government plans to scrap child benefit for higher earners will be revised to protect families with stay-at-home mothers, David Cameron has hinted.

The British economy just managed to achieve growth in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has held fire on its quantitative easing (QE) programme and kept interest rates at their historical low of 0.5%.

Philip Saunders and Max King from the Investec Global multi-asset team give their predictions for the year ahead.

Britain can expect an imminent market crash when building work on skyscraper The Shard near London Bridge is completed, according to Barclays Capital.