Markets afternoon briefing

View an online version of this email here.  All times are London time: Wednesday Feb 18 2009 FT.com - Financial Markets News Bargain hunters set to lift Wall St Feb 18 2009 14:30 Bargain hunters were set to help US stocks make a modest recovery from a broad-based sell-off in the previous session that pushed the market to its lowest level of the year Read more » FTSE back below 4,000 as insurers fall Feb 18 2009 14:50 Returning fears about capital positions in the sector kept London equities under pressure on Wednesday helped take the benchmark index under a key support level Read more » Fund amasses bullion holding Feb 18 2009 15:00 Gold holdings at the world's largest bullion-backed exchange-traded fund jumped above 1,000 tonnes for the first time as investors continued to seek out the safety of bullion amid increasing financial turbulence Read more » European banks volatile after earnings figures Feb 18 2009 13:39 Banks continued to weigh heavily on European equities on Wednesday as a handful of mildly positive earnings figures from the sector were overshadowed by continuing trepidation over eastern European economies Read more » Bank minutes hit sterling Feb 18 2009 10:28 The pound dropped to a two-week low against the dollar on Wednesday after the minutes of the Bank of England's February meeting revealed a unanimous vote to use unconventional monetary policy measures to stimulate the economy. Read more » Asian shares fall amid economic gloom Feb 18 2009 10:39 Deepening economic gloom and fears about the health of the global finance sector pushed Asian shares to their lowest level this month on Wednesday, prompting investors to move to low-risk assets such as regional bonds Read more » Asia's jobless may hit 23.3m in 2009 Feb 18 2009 08:19 Asia will see the number of jobless people rise by up to 23.3m in 2009, three times more than the estimate of 7.2m last month as the region reels from the deepening recession sweeping the world's richest countries Read more » ABOUT THIS EMAIL You have received this email because you have signed up for this briefing on FT.com Manage subscriptions | Unsubscribe | Change your email address Change whether you receive this email as HTML or plain text | Forward this email to a friend Privacy policy | Advertise | Contact © Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2009. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. The Financial Times Limited, registered in England and Wales number 227590. Registered office: Number One Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HL. VAT number GB 278 5371 21.