Economics

US shares fell in early trading on the back of interest rate concerns following the Chinese Central Bank's decision to increase its inter-bank rate for the first time in four months.

Interest rates have been held at 0.5% for the eleventh consecutive month today.

The Dow Jones opened trading in the red on the back of disappointing employment figures showing the number out of work increased to 84,000 in December.

DAVID TEPPER, who runs the US hedge fund Appaloosa Management, is in line for a profit share of around $2.5bn (£1.5bn) this year after betting heavily on a recovery in the stocks of banks including Citigroup and Bank of America, says The Times.

BRITAIN'S economy will finally make it out of recession in the last quarter of 2009, but will perform much less strongly in each of the next three years than the Government is currently forecasting, the CBI will say today.

Insurers are planning to introduce a new product to help companies limit the financial fall-out when their brands or high-profile spokesmen such as Tiger Woods suffer reputational damage, reports the Financial Times.

At the start of 2009, the outlook for European equities was bleak. Banks had ceased lending to each other, liquidity was absent from the market and credit had become the scarcest commodity of all.

Schroders chief economist Keith Wade has warned Alistair Darling not to attempt to rein in the UK's burgeoning budget deficit too early, believing the UK economy is still "fragile".

The biggest financial crisis in modern British history heralded an unprecedented bonanza in fees for City lawyers, accountants and advisers, according to the definitive assessment of Treasury spending on the bail-outs.

Barclays is set to award its 22,000 investment bankers pay rises of up to 150% in an effort to beat Government moves to clamp down on multi-million-pound bonuses.