Morning all. Market reports:
Telegraph
The Times
The Times (Need to know)
FT
The Guardian
The Independent
This is Money
US markets soured after Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson performed a dramatic u-turn over Americas $700bn bail-out fund, ditching plans to buy up distressed mortgage assets in favour of a second round of bank investments and other new measures.
Paulson bank u-turn sends US markets lower
Senior Republicans on Capitol Hill on Wednesday made clear they would fight plans to rescue the US carmaking industry, as political wrangling over the proposed $25bn bail-out package for General Motors, Chrysler and Ford intensified.
Battle intensifies over US auto bailout
Intel on Wednesday shocked Wall Street with a revenue and margins warning that indicated a rapid decline in the business of the worlds largest chipmaker over the past month.
Intel issues shock revenue warning
The economy has entered recession and will shrink by 2 per cent next year as it suffers its worst year since 1980, the Bank of England warned yesterday.
Bank of England: Economy to shrink by 2 per cent, forcing further interest rate cuts
The Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, yesterday made his clearest pledge yet that he is "prepared to see Bank rate move to whatever level is necessary" to avoid deflation.
BoE sounds warning on recession and deflation
Japan is preparing to tap its foreign exchange reserves to the tune of $US100 billion in a massive offer to the International Monetary Fund, government sources have told The Times. The Japanese offer, which will be unveiled fully tomorrow in Washington, will dramatically increase the IMF's ability to lend to emerging economies savaged by the global financial crisis.
Japan to offer IMF $100 billion
Leading Russian oil producers, including TNK-BP, BP's Russian affiliate, are grappling with a collapse in profits from the export of Siberian oil. Heavy export tariffs have almost wiped out the profit margin from selling crude oil outside Russia, forcing Siberian producers to sell at prices as low as $10 a barrel on Russia's domestic market. Fears are mounting that the profits squeeze may speed the decline in Russian oil output, already down 6 per cent this year.
Producers in turmoil as Russian oil hits $10 a barrel
Trading on Russia's main stock market was suspended as the financial crisis tightened its grip and foreign investors took fright after what one analyst called "relentlessly negative" sentiment towards the country.
Financial crisis grips Russia
The European commission yesterday proposed a regulatory clampdown on credit rating agencies in a fresh move to restore investor confidence amid the continuing financial market turmoil.
Brussels seeks tougher rules to monitor rating agencies