Economics / Markets

Goldman Sachs is lifting the £1m bonus cap imposed on its 100 London-based partners last year as the firm begins to hand out multi-million pound payouts to staff around the world.

Inflation edged closer towards 4% in December as the rising cost of food and oil products continued to hit the price of goods and services.

The BoE risks making the UK's debt problem bigger if it raises rates above 0.5% in the near-term to tackle "one-off" inflationary pressures, says the head of portfolio management at Prudential.

Caution has set in for investors in early trading on Monday as traders await the outcome of today's eurozone finance ministers' meeting in Brussels.

Important members of Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition in Germany are resisting plans for an increase in the EU's bail-out fund to protect Spain from contagion, complicating a crucial meeting of EU finance ministers on Monday.

The FTSE has dipped 1% after a steady morning session as sentiment was hit following China's move to curb rising inflation in the country.

The European Central Bank has signalled the growing threat of inflation could prompt it to raise interest rates across the eurozone sooner than expected.

The chances of Britain dropping back into recession this year have doubled to one-in-five, a leading economic forecaster has warned amid mounting fears the recovery is slowing.

The Bank of England has maintained interest rates at 0.5% and kept its quantitative easing programme at £200bn.

The FTSE fell back from yesterday's 31-month closing high in early trading Thursday, despite strong global gains overnight following a successful bond sale in Portugal.