Economics

President Barack Obama has announced a deal to end the US debt crisis, which will raise the nation's debt ceiling by at least $2.1trn and cut the federal deficit by as much as $2.5trn over a decade.

The UK economy will only grow at a "sluggish" rate this year, according to the CBI.

Invesco Perpetual remains positive on the prospects for the Spanish economy despite Moody's hinting it may downgrade the nation's credit rating this morning.

Moody's has placed Spain's Aa2 government bond rating on review for a potential downgrade over concerns the new bailout package for Greece will increase risks for bondholders.

Investors should wait six months before buying a newly-launched fund, and then only if it has already posted strong performance, according to analysis carried out by Dennehy Weller & Co.

As the US continues to teeter on the brink of default, France has been dragged into the global financial crisis and Germany warns the Greek bailout was a one-off…we bring you all the top stories from the nationals.

US and Asian markets fell overnight on fears the US government will fail to resolve its debt crisis, ahead of a crucial vote by the House of Representatives today.

St. James's Place failed to make a profit from its distribution arm in the first half of 2011, citing the impact of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), although group operating profit was up 13%.

The FTSE has plunged in mid-afternoon trading with banking stocks hard hit after Santander released poor results and the impasse over the US debt ceiling shows no sign of ending.

Q&A - US DEBT CRISIS