Economics / Markets

The Bank of England has kept interest rates at 0.5% and frozen its quantitative easing programme.

Shares fell in London this morning with miners losing ground after high metal prices increased their value earlier this week.

Inflation will rise this year to around 3.5% as the impact of the VAT rise kicks in - but the hike will be short-lived, says an influential think-tank.

Kraft has closed the deal on its drawn-out takeover of Cadbury after shareholders in the UK confectionary giant gave their backing to the £11.4bn offer.

The Conservatives will launch an ‘attack on regulation' and work to restore Britain's savings rates if the party wins the General Election, George Osborne says.

RBS bankers will receive their bonuses entirely in shares - but can convert a large portion into cash within 12 weeks.

The FTSE 100 opened slightly down, dipping 0.02% or 0.84 points to 5,246 in early trading, as BP posted worse then expected fourth quarter results.

Goldman Sachs could pay its chief executive a bonus of up to $100m in defiance of moves by President Obama to take action against bloated bank benefits.

Banks may be forced to pay an insurance levy to provide assistance in the event of a future financial crisis.

The FTSE was marginally down by 0.04% to 5186.60, despite strong gains by utilities in early trading.