Eurozone

Standard Life has risen 5.5% in early trading after impressive interim results, helping push the FTSE 100 up 0.7%.

A solution to the European debt crisis will not be enough to turn around global economic performance, at least for the next few years, according to a report by thinktank the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR).

Better-than-expected German and French GDP figures have failed to offset peripheral weakness as the eurozone contracted by 0.2% in the second quarter.

SLOW MOTION COLLAPSE

Argonaut founding partner Barry Norris finds a glimmer of hope for the eurozone crisis in the latest comments by ECB President Mario Draghi.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has described a psychological rift deeply ingrained within the eurozone that could potentially rip Europe apart.

Switzerland's biggest bank UBS and Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest lender, have both posted sharp falls in profits for Q2 as fees and commissions dwindled in the face of the eurozone crisis.

Chairman of Goldman Sachs Jim O'Neill has said Spain's stricken economy may not need a full bailout, despite yields on Spanish bonds continuing to soar to eye-watering levels in recent weeks.

Spain has sunk further into recession, after official data showed its stricken economy shrank by 0.4% in the second quarter of this year.

The European Central Bank (ECB) could face extended losses as it prepares a last-ditch attempt to prevent a Greek exit from the eurozone.