French president Nicolas Sarkozy has lost the first round of the presidential election to his socialist rival Francois Hollande.
The UK is back in recession, according to the latest growth projections from the OECD, while the recovery in the G7 economies remains ‘fragile'.
Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is being questioned by police as a suspect in a prostitution ring inquiry, according to the BBC.
Invesco Perpetual's co-head of fixed income Paul Read has said April's French presidential election is the "one to watch" for markets in 2012.
Fourth quarter eurozone GDP has come in fractionally ahead of expectations but the 0.3% drop will do little to dismiss predictions of a new recession.
The past three years have been a tumultuous time for the financials sector, which has seen a phase of deleveraging, rights issues and balance sheet repair which continues to this day.