Economics

The UK shrugged off another brutal session in the US where the Dow Jones closed 520 points lower in overnight trading after climbing 2%.

Politicians and traders have cut short their holidays to address the sharp falls in markets seen since the start of the month - but should they have stayed on the beach?

GMO's Jeremy Grantham has said the S&P 500 is still heavily overvalued, and "worth no more than 950".

Bulls triumph over bears, Fed freezes short-term rates, and pension funds take a beating from stock market turmoil...our round-up of the news from the nationals.

The FTSE 100 climbed this morning and Asian and US markets rallied strongly overnight as the Federal Reserve announced it would hold interest rates at close to zero until 2013.

US markets have opened higher after a calmer atmosphere saw the FTSE 100 recover the day's losses.

The FTSE 100 has entered bear market territory, having now fallen 20% from recent highs after the index lost as much as 5% in early trading on Tuesday.

Growth in the UK has deteriorated for the sixth consecutive month while the global recovery has peaked, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The FTSE 100 dipped below the 5,000 mark this morning after a short-lived rally at the start of trading.

Heavy losses in the battered US markets have spread to the UK and sent the index of 100 leading shares down more than 3%.