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Sterling fell by almost 3 cents, ending the day below $1.50 for the first time in nearly a year amid fears that Britain will be left with a weak government unable to cut spending and balance the budget.
Pound slumps over fears of election stalemate
On the back of the increasing political uncertainty the pound fell as much as 4 cents against the dollar - the sharpest intra-day decline for more than a year. If you look at the short positions now being held by traders, worse could be about to follow.
If speculators are on the money, the pound still has a long way to fall
David Bloom, Global Head of FX Research for HSBC, is none-too-impressed with suggestions the Great British Currency is more krona than sterling. 'Currencies are a relative concept. So who is the UK and GBP going to have a crisis against - the euro? The analysts that are putting the GBP crisis view are the very same analysts who seem to be simultaneously predicting the break up of the euro and a GBP crisis whilst only last year telling us the USD was finished and losing its reserve currency status.'
'Talk of a GBP crisis seems like hysterical claptrap
George Soros, one of the world's leading investors, believes the euro "may not survive" and has publicly declared that he is buying into gold - even though he says he considers it a "bubble".
Soros hedge fund bets on demise of the euro
Mr Dimon told investors at the Wall Street banks annual meeting that there could be contagion if a state the size of California, the biggest of the United States, had problems making debt repayments.
Dimon: Weve hedged Greece. But California
Greece is set to announce additional austerity measures in order to get its battered economy back on track and to reassure international markets that the country will not default on its debt.
Greece set to announce more austerity measures
Germanys top financial regulator has launched an investigation into the market for credit default swaps (CDS), seeking evidence that speculators have been using the instruments, which provide insurance against the default of a bond issuer, to bet against Greek government bonds.
German inquiry into CDS trades and Greek bonds