Markets

Schroders has launched a Secure Distribution fund offering a 7.5% annual return for half of a 20-year fixed term.

GREEK ELECTIONS

Moody's has downgraded the credit ratings of five of the Netherlands' largest banks as the country's economy struggles with a domestic recession and the effects of the eurozone crisis.

Asian markets jumped overnight after the 'pro-bailout party took a narrow win in Greece's elections, but European indices saw an early rally disappear as Spanish bond yields spiked again.

Steve Bailey and Jan Luthman have added European food giant Nestlé to the £242m Liontrust Macro Equity Income fund as part of a wider play on consumer staples.

Kames Capital's Phil Milburn and Melanie Mitchell are poised to add to European holdings in their High Yield Bond fund but are waiting for two specific catalysts before taking the plunge.

THE BIG QUESTION

Europe's major markets are climbing today ahead of the Greek elections, and following the Bank of England's unveiling of a £100bn stimulus package for the UK economy.

The UK Chancellor George Osborne and the Bank of England's governor Mervyn King have unveiled a £100bn package to prop up the UK's flagging economy and protect it from the encroaching eurozone crisis.

The Bank of England is to provide short-term sterling liquidity to the banking sector in anticipation of "market-wide stress of an exceptional nature" over the coming weeks.