CRH, the building materials group, has announced that its chief executive Myles Lee will retire at the end of the year after five years at the helm and 10 years as an executive director.

Amid turmoil on the equity markets, gold miners were seen to be nearly as safe as the gold they dig up. There was a sea of red across traders' screens as the market was spooked by the Italian government election deadlock but the gold price ticked up, and gold miners Randgold Resources and Centamin glistened as the second-best risers in the benchmark and mid-cap index respectively.

Sterling is expected to come under pressure tomorrow following the loss of Britain's gold-plated AAA credit rating.

Economic View

Spain, Portugal and France are likely be spared pressure by Brussels to impose more austerity, despite forecasts today from the European Commission showing that they will miss their deficit reduction targets.

Deficit-busting targets for a trio of eurozone strugglers have been torpedoed by austerity and the region will not return to growth until next year, worrying new forecasts revealed today.

Wealth manager Rathbone Brothers has recruited the former boss of Williams de Broë, Philip Howell, as deputy chief executive in a signal that it continues to have ambitious growth plans.

Luxury carmaker Ferrari has declared that 2012 was the best year in its 66-year history.

Global finance ministers braced for more skirmishes today in a week of simmering tension over “currency wars” as the G20 gathered in Moscow.

A shocking decline for the mighty German economy has sunk the eurozone even deeper into recession.

The precious metal may have lost some of its lustre as investors rediscover their taste for shares – but don't write it off just yet

A leading business body has cut its UK growth forecast for this year but said the UK should avoid a triple-dip recession.