euro

CURRENCIES

Oil prices have jumped to a two and a half year high on fresh fears about supply and a weaker dollar.

Eurozone leaders in Brussels have come to a ‘in principle' agreement on economic policy, designed to rescue Europe from its debt crisis, European Union President Herman Van Rompuy has announced.

Negotiations to find a solution to the European sovereign debt crisis will end in a messy compromise that fails to resolve the peripheral solvency problem, says Stuart Thomson at Ignis Asset Management.

Markets and the single currency reacted strongly yesterday after the European Central Bank hinted at raising interest rates as early as April.

DEMAND FOR EURO WILL RETURN

The coalition government's emergency budget and harsh spending cuts risk driving the UK economy back into recession, warns veteran hedge fund manager George Soros.

Difficulties in the eurozone pose the most serious threat to recovery in developed equity markets, despite a positive outlook for growth, says Schroders' Alan Brown.

ON EUROPE

The euro has fallen against the dollar amid renewed debt fears in the region as the yield on Portugal's treasury bill sale climbed to nearly double that of its last issuance.