Economics

Britain's dominant services sector grew at its fastest pace in 10 months in January, reflecting a more optimistic company view, the Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed.

Gold will remain the best real asset play for investors if central banks continue to print money and risk debasing their currencies, said Ted Scott, director of global strategy at F&C.

Gilts are seeing prices fall and yields climb after the worse than feared decline in the UK economy was revealed this morning.

The British economy just managed to achieve growth in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).

ECONOMICS

The UK economy has "significantly weakened" with domestic demand at a two-year low, but a recession is not inevitable, the latest quarterly survey by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) concludes.

Chinese and Indian policymakers have promised to take action to boost economic growth on deepening fears emerging economies will suffer a hard landing.

The world's biggest bond investor Bill Gross has regained his top spot amongst his peers as investors piled back in to riskier assets.

The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) has warned the UK faces the weakest economic recovery since the First World War, as GDP remains well below its pre-recession high.

Invesco's John Greenwood has warned further QE in the UK is unlikely to lead to a rebound in economic growth as he said there was "no quick fix" to the country's economic woes.