
Morning all. Market reports:
Telegraph
The Times
The Times (Need to know)
FT
The Independent
The Guardian
This is Money
Property investment trusts shares have crashed on panic selling in New York after an affiliate of the private equity giant Carlyle Group fell into default on mortgage losses.
Carlyle Group default sparks panic selling in New York
A Dutch-listed affiliate of The Carlyle Group that owns $22 billion (10.9 billion) of mortgage-backed investments was in emergency restructuring talks with its banks last night after failing to meet repayment requests.
Carlyle arm faces further default notices as repayment calls mount up
The credit crunch is, if anything, getting more acute again. Banks are more scared about lending to one another and are rushing to call in loans or demand more collateral, or extract better terms from borrowers.
CCC's woes show the crunch is still biting
Thornburg, the American mortgage lender, was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy last night as a key creditor demanded that it liquidate assets after failing to put up $28 million (13.9 million) in extra collateral.
Major US homes lender near bankruptcy
UBS shares fell to their lowest for more than five years yesterday on concern that the ailing Swiss banking giant had sold SFr25bn (12bn) of risky mortgages at a big discount and faced further writedowns from the US sub-prime crisis.
Mortgage 'fire sale' hits UBS shares
The European Central Bank has dashed hopes for an interest rate cut in coming months, defying mounting calls from across the political and economic spectrum for monetary stimulus to head off a sharp slowdown.
Hawkish ECB risks central bank fight on rates
The European Central Bank has dashed hopes for an interest rate cut in the coming months, defying mounting calls for monetary stimulus to head off a sharp slowdown.
ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet brushes off warnings that Europe is lurching towards crisis
The Bank of England has held interest rates at 5.25pc today as fears of inflation take priority over concerns about the economic slowdown in the UK.
Interest rates held at 5.25pc on inflation fears
The pound has broken through the $2 mark for the first time since January, after the Bank of England voted to leave interest rates unchanged at 5.25pc.
Sterling surges through $2 mark as interest rates held
UK house prices fell 0.3pc in February, Halifax said in its latest monthly report. It is the first fall in three months according to Britain's biggest mortgage lender, after houses prices were flat in January and actually rose 1.3pc in December.
UK house prices fall again
Ill-thought-out changes to tax and regulation are damaging and the Government should think again, financial leaders warn.
Britain's status as a financial leader is under threat, Alistair Darling is cautioned
Lehman Brothers, the American investment bank, has suspended two equity trad-ers in London after its internal controls showed up issues related to share valuations.
Lehman suspends equity traders in London
One of America's star fund managers has become the biggest name to date to be dragged into the long-running probe into lavish gifts allegedly doled out in an attempt to win business from the world's largest mutual fund company.
Star fund manager Peter Lynch agrees to settle SEC 'gifts' case