Markets

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.

World markets including the FTSE fell in early trading as weak economic data and Moody's downgrade of 15 banks unnerved investors.

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.

Rating agency Moody's is preparing to downgrade several UK banks this evening, including RBS, Barclays and HSBC, according to reports.

The High Court has rejected a bid for a judicial review into the £54m redress scheme brokered by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) offered by Capita and other businesses to Arch cru investors.

The FTSE 100 fell alongside other major markets across Europe today, after the Federal Reserve cut its growth forecast for the US economy.

The Federal Reserve announced plans to extend Operation Twist by $267bn as it cut its growth forecast for the US economy from 2.9% to 2.4% in 2012.

Spanish 10-year bond yields have dipped back below 7% today, as investors eye an expected stimulus package from the US Federal Reserve, and with sentiment lifted after Greece managed to form a new government.