Economics

The US Senate has voted through a bill which aims to punish China for keeping its currency artificially undervalued.

S&P and Fitch have downgraded some of Spain's largest financial institutions including bank Santander, citing a deteriorating outlook for the Spanish economy.

The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) has warned the UK faces the weakest economic recovery since the First World War, as GDP remains well below its pre-recession high.

Greece is set to receive a further €8bn of bailout cash from the troika - the EU, IMF, and ECB - in early November, buying it more time to avoid a hard default.

With investors concerned about the propsects for payouts from UK stocks amid the worsening economic environment, Shore Capital has identified stocks from every sector in the market which should be able to grow their dividends.

Fidelity's Income fund manager Michael Clark is at odds with Sanjeev Shah, manager of the group's £2.4bn Special Situations fund, on banks shares, urging investors to avoid the sector.

UK gilts extended declines as the Bank of England refused to buy bonds maturing in 2017 in Monday's auction, after traders aggressively drove up prices.

The S&P 500 closed up 3.4% overnight, boosting Asian shares and lifting the US index nearly 11% from lows seen last week.

The number of shares out on loan in September has risen by the highest level in five years as investors reacted to market falls by taking more negative bets.

George Osborne has said efforts in Europe to tackle the economic crisis are currently falling short of what is needed, warning the billions pledged by governments so far are not enough.