Economics / Markets

Investment guru Jim Rogers has criticised Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's decision to pump a further $600bn into the US economy, saying he "does not understand economics".

London's leading index of shares added to yesterday's triple-digit gains in early trading on Friday, before dipping into negative territory.

The Bank of England today rejected a fresh bout of quantitative easing and kept interest rates on hold for the 20th consecutive month.

The FTSE hit a seven-month high in early trading today following the Federal Reserve's decision to pump $600bn into the US economy

House prices in the UK rose by 1.8% in October compared with the previous month - but this followed a big drop a month earlier, the Halifax said.

DeAnne Julius, former Bank of England policymaker, and Sir John Gieve, ex-deputy Governor at the Bank have openly opposed another round of quantitative easing.

The FTSE had climbed significantly by lunchtime after positive results from a number of major companies.

The government's spending cuts and the rise in VAT to 20% in January will result in more than 1.6 million job losses across the public and private sectors, research suggests.

Positive earnings reports from some of the FTSE 100 top players have boosted the index this morning.

The FTSE 100 opened positively in a week set to be dominated by a slew of US economic and political news.