ECB

Sterling has been backed to extend gains against the euro despite rising to a three-and-a-half-year high this week, as investors' fears over the future of the eurozone play out in money markets.

Insight Investment has blocked investors from pumping more money into its €1.1bn Insight Euro Liquidity fund following the European Central Bank's move to cut interest rates.

EUROPE

The European Central Bank has cut interest rates to a record low, from 1% to 0.75%, mimicking action taken around the globe today, as the authorities move to rescue the deteriorating global economy.

Roger Bootle and a team of economists at Capital Economics have won a prestigious economics award for their plan on how a country could exit the eurozone in an orderly way.

The European Central Bank is expected to cut rates this afternoon in a bid to help revive the ailing eurozone - a move which stands to benefit hedge fund manager Hugh Hendry.

Indices across Europe are expected to open flat ahead of the anticipated moves from the ECB to cut interest rates and a further injection of QE from the Bank of England.

BlackRock's head of UK fixed income, Ian Winship, is shorting gilts as yields have hit lower levels than those seen during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Governments across Europe are set to buy Spanish and Italian bonds through two European rescue funds, a move the ECB hopes will send a signal to financial markets that Germany is behind the eurozone.

PIMCO's Bill Gross is wary of German bunds, saying there are few scenarios which they can do well and eurozone turmoil is hurting German balance sheets every day.