Bank of England

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

The US federal reserve could pump up to $1trn of extra QE into the economy to battle unemployment and encourage growth.

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

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.

House purchase approvals continued to weaken in September reflecting low demand, according to Bank of England figures.

Government borrowing hit a record high in September, with the biggest deficit for the month since records began in 1993.

The Bank of England was split three ways in its last meeting on interest rates and QE, with two rogue members voting to change the path of monetary policy.

Bank of England governor Mervyn King last night warned of an unpleasant, "sober" decade ahead and hinted at further QE ahead of today's government Spending Review.

The Bank of England is likely to increase its quantitative easing programme by £100bn to aid the economy as the government cuts spending, the Centre for Economics and Business Research says.

Former City regulator Sir Howard Davies has joined the board of Prudential as a non-executive director.