Economics / Markets

Lessons from Lehmans

UK unemployment has seen the sharpest quarterly rise in over two years, with the unemployment rising 80,000 to 2.51 million, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Adam Posen, the external member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), has upped his call for more quantitative easing (QE) to £100bn and proposed a ‘public bank' for businesses struggling to find credit on the highstreet.

The FTSE 100 has slipped back into the red mid morning as poor performance from the banking and mining sectors weighed on the index.

Inflation climbed marginally in August as expected, driven up by higher utility bills.

Stocks in the US and Asia rallied overnight after Italy turned to China for help with its debt crisis.

Figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) suggest activity in the UK fell for a sixth straight month in July and at its steepest rate since June 2010.

J.P. Morgan's Private Equity limited has completed the purchase of a range of assets held by the former Arch cru funds.

The eurozone will dominate the week ahead, and a rating cut from the European Central Bank is on the cards, says Barclays Wealth equity strategist Henk Potts.

Banks led markets sharply lower in early trading after a long-awaited report from Sir John Vickers and the Independent Commission on Banking proposed a radical shake-up of the sector.