Eurozone

The World Bank has defied many commentators by forecasting China is heading for a soft landing, with growth in excess of 8% next year.

Credit rating agency Moody's has warned on the status of France's AAA-rating after the yield on its bonds spiked last week.

EMERGING MARKETS

The worsening eurozone debt crisis is overshadowing more encouraging news from outside the region, including better than expected growth rates, said Darwin's David Jane.

My base case scenario for Europe remains the same, although my confidence in this has reduced.

The euro weakened this morning as the cost of insuring French bonds climbed to a record, Spanish yields rose and european equities retreated for a second day.

Warren Buffett has warned European leaders are not doing enough to reassure markets they will do what it takes to solve the debt crisis, risking a run on the region's banks.

Bob Jolly, head of global macro at Schroders, has said Germany "loves" being part of the euro and suggested neither Greece nor Italy would exit the single currency for fear of the consequences.

Italy sold €3bn of five-year bonds, the maximum target, at the highest yield in more than 14 years as Mario Monti seeks to form a new government.

Europe's €1trn rescue fund has been forced to deny it bought some of its own debt following a report over the weekend that investors have rejected its bonds because of the worsening European debt crisis.