Europe

ECB RATE HIKE

European stock markets sunk into negative territory on Tuesday as concerns over the global economic recovery and an unnerving update on Japan's radiation crisis hit investor sentiment.

ON EUROPE

Swip Strategic bond managers Luke Hickmore and Roger Webb discuss the impact on the European sovereign debt crisis on their £68m fund, and how a flexible mandate has benefitted performance.

Jean Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, has defended yesterday's 25 basis point hike in interest rates as good for the eurozone, as EU leaders prepare for talks on the bailout of Portugal.

The Bank of England is likely to maintain its current monetary stance and keep interest rates at their historic low today after a new report suggested the UK's economic recovery remains sluggish.

NEW EURO DEBT CRISES

The end of the sovereign debt crisis in peripheral Europe may be in sight despite continued negative newsflow from the region, several managers claim.

The LVAM manager says stocks are cheap historically and running healthy yields

Eurozone rescue funds amounting to €500bn will not be enough to meet the financing needs of Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Italy in 2011-2013, Cazenove Capital Management's Peter Harvey says.