The minutes of the last meeting of the US Federal Reserve arrived five hours earlier than expected today, with the record showing a growing debate about whether the central bank should begin rolling back its stimulus measures as early as mid-year.

The S&P 500 index reached a record closing high last night, climbing beyond the 1,565 level struck in October 2007, a year before the collapse of the Lehman Brothers.

Visa Europe's owners are considering selling the credit-card company and setting up a rival system across the Continent.

HP bought the Cambridge-based software maker for $10bn in 2011 and then wrote off $8.8bn late last year in a move that stunned Wall Street.

Women's day on Wall Street

The future of IPC Media, the UK-based publisher of Country Life, Marie Claire and NME, was plunged into fresh uncertainty yesterday after its US parent company Time Warner announced plans to spin off its global magazine division.

World markets continued to shrug off economic worries today as London's FTSE 100 Index closed at its highest level since January 2008.

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The Kingdom of Bahrain’s Industry and Commerce Minister, Hassan Fakhro, issued an unusual decree this week: he banned the importation of a plastic face mask. Anyone caught importing the V for Vendetta Guy Fawkes mask now faces arrest, as anti-government protesters in the country have been using them to stay anonymous.

Well it’s certainly good news for Google.

It was the AJ show as Barclays' new chief executive outlined his master plan. Antony Jenkins wants to show the world it is still better off with the big bank, despite recent events suggesting otherwise.

Outlook If Jim O'Neill had a pound every time his 2001 "Brics" acronym was uttered, the Goldman Sachs man's bank balance would be one of the world's fastest-growing economies in its own right.

Warren Buffett, the American investor, attempted to buy the New York Stock Exchange last year, according to reports last night.

Davos Outlook Some things at Davos never change. The snow is heaped in thick slices on the gabled roofs. Audis with tinted windows prowl up and down the Promenade. Delegates are given goody bags filled with useless tat. And Jamie Dimon, the boss of JP Morgan, stands up, belligerently, for the banks.