Markets afternoon briefing

View an online version of this email here.  All times are London time: Thursday Mar 05 2009 FT.com - Financial Markets News Wall Street set to slip on auto concerns Mar 05 2009 14:08 US stocks looked set to fall back after strong gains made during the previous session as bad news came through overnight from US car makers Read more » Bank cuts rates by 50 points to 0.5% Mar 05 2009 15:46 The Bank of England's monetary policy committee cut its key rate by half a percentage point, as was widely expected, and unveiled plans to combat slumping demand through 'quantitative easing' Read more » FTSE tighter as quantitative easing arrives Mar 05 2009 14:41 London equities fell as traders considered the implications of the arrival of unconventional measures in the latest phase of the Bank of England's battle with recession Read more » Bank plans weigh on sterling Mar 05 2009 14:12 The pound lost ground on Thursday as the Bank of England outlined plans to stimulate the UK economy by using quantitative easing. Read more » Gilts prices jump as Bank prepares to buy bonds Mar 05 2009 12:58 The prices of gilts jumped after the Bank of England announced that it was preparing to buy £75bn of government bonds as part of efforts to stimulate the economy and boost the money supply Read more » European stocks hit by insurance fears Mar 05 2009 12:51 European equity markets sank as the mood turned bearish again after Wednesday's brief rally, with attention fully focused on pending interest rate decisions in the region Read more » Commodity markets uninspired by China spending plans Mar 05 2009 12:27 Oil prices fell while base metals were mixed as traders reacted with caution to the lack of concrete spending pledges in the new stimulus plans announced by China Read more » China deflates Asian share market hopes Mar 05 2009 09:49 Asia-Pacific equities were mixed as investors weighed Beijing's pledge to keep economic growth at 8 per cent against their dashed hopes for additional stimulus funding from the Chinese government Read more » Australia extends short-selling ban Mar 05 2009 04:43 Ongoing market volatility and fears of predatory market bears have prompted Australia's corporate regulator to extend its ban on the short selling of financial stocks by almost three months 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.