Global Markets

Moody's Investor Service downgraded credit ratings of three large Nordic banks on Friday, citing their reliance on market funding, tough competition for retail loans, and their exposure to the spreading euro zone debt crisis.

The index, known as the IBC-Br, showed economic activity declined by 0.35% in March from February, the central bank said last Friday. By comparison, the February index showed a 0.23% decline in economic activity from January.

Computer and software company expected to cut 8% of workforce as consumers ditch bulky PCs in favour of tablets Hewlett-Packard is planning to cut as many as 30,000 jobs, in one of the world's biggest redundancy programmes in recent years.

The British government is making urgent preparations to cope with the fallout of a possible Greek exit from the single currency, after the governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, warned that Europe was "tearing itself apart".