Equities

EUROZONE CRISIS

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said the UK must keep open the option of joining the euro if the current crisis is resolved.

ON NORTH AMERICA

Billionaire investor George Soros has called on Europe to start a fund to buy Italian and Spanish bonds, or risk the demise of the euro.

THE BIG QUESTION

Henderson's John Bennett said European equities are in the very late stages of a bear market, providing "once in a generation" opportunities to buy the asset class.

Franklin Templeton's Michael Hasenstab has said there will be no Armageddon in the eurozone, and urged investors to take advantage of short-term market inefficiencies.

Shares on the major US stock markets shed more than 2% overnight as weak manufacturing data from the US, Europe and China fuelled fears of a global slowdown.

Credit rating agency Moody's has downgraded 15 financial institutions overnight, including major UK and US banks.

A eurozone ‘divorce' is inevitable, according to Jupiter's John Chatfeild-Roberts, who suggested a German exit from the single currency might be a solution to the crisis.