Equity markets

China's benchmark equity index has fallen to its lowest level for three and a half years, as investors continue to fret over the impact of the global slowdown.

Barclays shares are in demand, despite the fall-out from the LIBOR scandal and Bob Diamond's resignation, with investors buying five shares for every one sold.

Stephen Hester, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, has given up his £2.4m bonus for 2012 following the computer meltdown at the bailed out bank.

PIMCO's Bill Gross has told investors they will find it difficult to repeat the performance of the past 30 years, comparing Wall Street to a food chain and Europe to a "tumour".

BlackRock's Bob Doll predicts Europe's debt crisis will remain well contained, allowing global growth to continue at a modest pace.

BNP Paribas analyst Philippe Gijsels has suggested inflationary monetary policy could mean the next bull market sees the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 100,000.

US markets have fallen to three-month lows during trading today as the eurozone worries that resurfaced last week show little sign of subsiding.

MARKET WOBBLES

UK banks were making solid gains early this morning, lifting the wider FTSE 100 index, having been sold-off yesterday on eurozone fears.

BlackRock's Bob Doll has warned equities look due a correction in the near term, but said any sell-off would likely be short-lived, with the global outlook little changed by recent events.