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This is Money

America's central bank indicated that the current recession could continue much further into this year than had previously been expected as US aluminium giant Alcoa announced plans to cut more than 15,000 jobs in response to the continued economic slump.
US economy darkens on mass job cuts

The Federal Reserve is considering establishing a de facto inflation target, minutes of its groundbreaking December policy meeting revealed Tuesday.
Fed considers inflation target

The pound has continued its unexpected comeback, gaining against the euro and dollar ahead of the Bank of England's interest rate decision tomorrow.
Pound stages unexpected recovery ahead of MPC meeting

The euro tumbled against the dollar yesterday as evidence of plunging inflation and slumping services activity in the eurozone fuelled speculation over further, early cuts in interest rates by the European Central Bank (ECB).
Pressure on ECB to cut rates again as euro tumbles against dollar

The Markit iTraxx Crossover index tightened below 1,000bp for the first time since the beginning of December in a broad-based rally. Investment grade names also performed strongly, with the Markit iTraxx Europe index tightening by over 10bp to trade at 167bp.
CDS update: Broad-based rally

Wholesale gas prices rose sharply yesterday as the cold snap continued to drive British demand higher. Analysts played down the immediate impact of the row between Russia and Ukraine but said if it dragged on there could be an impact on the price of gas coming into the UK
Dispute drives wholesale gas prices sharply higher

rivate equity firms are preparing to notify investors over the next few weeks just how much or little the companies they invested in are now worth, with many executives saying the reported fall in value will be 20-30%.
Private equity to reveal losses

One of Europes most influential industry magnates has thrown himself in front of a train after his business empire began to crumble.
Adolf Merckle, German tycoon who lost millions on VW shares, commits suicide

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

KOSPI	VIX

KIEV (AFP)--Russia on Wednesday halted all shipments of its gas bound for European customers that pass through Ukrainian territory, a spokesman for Ukraine's state gas company Naftogaz told AFP.
"Russia stopped all transit through Ukraine" at 7.44 a.m. (0544 GMT), said Naftogaz spokesman Valentin Zemlyansky.
"Russia has left Europe without gas," he added.

End-of-day Market Overview