the european central bank has said it will buy eurozone bonds, following emergency talks on the debt crisis. the bank did not say which bonds it would buy but analysts expect them to be from italy and s

  asian stocks have slumped on monday, extending one of the worst sell-offs in recent years, after standard and poor's cut the us's triple-a credit rating. japan's main nikkei 225 index fell 2

  the "rogue trader" nick leeson who brought down barings bank has for the first time made a heartfelt apology to his former boss. he told peter norris, now chairman of virgin group holdings, of

  finance chiefs from major powers are to hold emergency talks by telephone to discuss ways to contain the latest turmoil on world financial markets, reports say. twin debt crises in the eurozone and the

  the "rogue trader" nick leeson who brought down barings bank has for the first time made a heartfelt apology to his former boss. he told peter norris, now chairman of virgin group holdings, of

  billionaire warren buffett's investment firm berkshire hathaway has reported a sharp rise in profits thanks in part to strong returns on derivative contracts. net profits for the second quarter were

  one of the world's leading credit rating agencies, standard & poor's, has downgraded the united states' top-notch aaa rating for the first time ever. s&p cut the long-term us rating

  the japanese government and central bank have intervened to weaken the yen to protect economic growth. japan sold yen on the markets, weakening the currency so that the dollar was worth more than 79 yen

  debt-laden italy is likely to default, but spain might just avoid it, according to the british think tank, the centre for economics and business research. with the countries weighed down by debt, the th

  a majority of economists polled by the bbc expect interest rates to remain unchanged until next year. of the 32 forecasters, who are also regularly polled by the treasury, 26 predicted that rates would

  the cost of compensating customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance pushed lloyds to a £3.3bn loss for the six months to 30 june. the bank, which is 41%-owned by the uk government, s

  shares in asian markets have fallen on wednesday, tracking us declines, after figures showed that the us economy is struggling to recover. japan's nikkei 225 index fell 2.2% in early trade. benchmar