Economics / Markets

The FTSE 100 has opened 3% higher after the Dow Jones added 250 points overnight on better retail data and news of a Greek bank merger.

Britain's banks are directly responsible for more than a third of the country's economic slump since September 2008, official figures show.

US markets moved lower in the immediate aftermath of Ben Bernanke's Jackson Hole speech after the Fed chairman made no firm commitment to further stimulus.

The US Commerce Department has said US GDP rose at an annualised rate of just 1% in the second quarter, down from an earlier estimate of 1.3%.

Britain's economy grew at 0.2% for the second quarter, according to the first revision of the data by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

It's our round-up of Friday's national finance news...

(Update) The FTSE opened more than 40 points lower on Friday as US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke gears up to deliver a key speech on the ailing US economy.

The immediate future of the UK economy will not be dependant on a further round of quantitative easing (QE), a member of the Bank of England's rate setting body said yesterday.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has resigned from the technology giant after announcing he could no longer continue in the position following his battle with cancer.

Gold prices took a nose dive overnight as investors u-turned on risk assets ahead of an expected round of further stimulus in the US, leaving the price more than $160 lower.