DIANE COYLE

DIANE COYLE

TERESA POOLE

The Dow Jones index dived almost 86 points yesterday after a string of poor profits news and fears that attempts to balance the government budget by cutting spending will slow the economy. It was the market's fourth decline in five days, made worse by two rounds of computer-driven orders to sell stocks.

ITT and Dow Jones have agreed to buy television channel WNYC-TV from the City of New York for $207m (pounds 129m) cash. The companies plan to create a business and sports channel offering professional and college sports from ITT and financial and

DIANE COYLE

The party's nearly over

Toujours Long Island, Au Revoir Provence. It seems that the British author Peter Mayle has left his rustic bliss in south-west France, which he made famous with his four best-selling books, and settled in the altogether more sophisticated surroundings of the Hamptons at the east end of Long Island.

Charles Arthur looks at how PCs with TVs are helping City dealers to judge the Chancellor's sincerity

The Z-Seven Fund, one of just two US closed-end investment trusts that specialise in London equities, is scaling back its British portfolio after spotting what it claims is an impending bear market.

The FT-SE 100 jumped 38.8 to 3,050.6 and the FT-SE 250 index 16.9 to 3,332.5. Turnover was 736.8 million with 28,534 bargains.

New York: Comments by the Federal Reserve chief on the absence of need for large interest rate increases saw the Dow Jones Average up 26.24 at 3,888.94 by early afternoon.

PowerGen set for forecast PowerGen said it expected to announce a dividend forecast for the financial year to 2 April 1995 on 25 January. An extraordinary yesterday also approved the company's planned purchase of about 62.8 million of its own ordinary shares from the Treasury. The purchase will represent between 6.5 and 8 per cent of PowerGen.

New York: In active trading shares moved lower, with weak bond prices again taking their toll. By early afternoon the Dow Jones Average was down 5.04 points at 3,852.27.