Economics

The embattled Greek economy shrunk by 7% in the last quarter of 2011, as fiscal and political crises ravaged the region.

Henderson Global Investors has proposed moving Paul Craig's Diversified Absolute Return fund into the newly created IMA Mixed Investment 0-35% shares sector, while bringing in Bill McQuaker as co-manager.

CPI inflation dropped from 4.2% to 3.6% In January, according to the Office for National Statistics, as 2011's VAT rise comes out of the year-on-year numbers.

Yields on UK gilts jumepd in early trading as investors reacted to the threat of a possible downgrade of the UK's AAA rating.

The UK's prized triple-A credit rating was under threat last night after US ratings agency Moody's put it on negative outlook, citing pressures from the eurozone.

Net retail sales of tracker funds hit a record high of £1.9bn last year, up some £200m on 2010, according to the Investment Management Association (IMA).

GLG has soft closed Stephen Harker's £1.1bn Japan CoreAlpha fund and the offshore version for a temporary period because of liquidity concerns in the Japanese market.

Britain will avoid a double dip recession and modest growth should restart later this year, according to the CBI.

Protests errupted on the streets of Athens as Greece's parliament passed a package of austerity measures, demanded by the eurozone and IMF in return for a 130bn-euro ($170bn; £110bn) bailout to avoid default.

UniCredit SpA (UCG), Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA (BMPS) are among 34 Italian financial firms downgraded by Standard & Poor's.