Economics / Markets

The FTSE advanced in early trading on Thursday following two days of losses as Shell posted bumper Q3 profits.

The deputy governor of the Bank of England, Charles Bean, has admitted that the recession "highlighted shortcomings" in the Bank's economic forecasting models.

Pimco's Bill Gross, manager of the world's largest bond fund, says quantitative easing has called an end to the 30-year bull market in bonds and labels current monetary policy as a ‘Ponzi scheme'.

Shares pulled back further on Wednesday following a blow for miners and lacklustre performances on Wall Street and in Asia.

The FTSE is down over a percentage point in afternoon trading with better-than-expected growth figures failing to lift investors as concerns over the banking sector weigh on sentiment.

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The UK's credit rating has been revised from negative to stable by S&P, further consolidating its ‘AAA' status and boosting the coalition government's economic plans.

The UK's economy grew at 0.8% between July and September, higher than most economists had expected.

The index of 100 leading shares was down a third of a percent just after opening, as the markets await figures for UK growth.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has thrown his weight behind breaking up the banks as part of reforms to protect the taxpayer from another financial meltdown.