Trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) has resumed after being brought to a halt for three and a half hours by technical difficulties.

The LSE said it had been affected by connectivity issues and at 1033 GMT had placed all orders for shares into an “auction call period”.

This allows traders to put orders to buy or sell shares into the system but without executing them.

The FTSE 100 index was frozen at 5,264.97 when trading was interrupted.

It had fallen 99.84 points, or 1.9%, in the first two and a half hours of trading.

Share markets across the world have been trading lower on Thursday after the investment company Dubai World asked for a six-month delay on repaying its debts, raising concerns about Dubai’s financial health.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8380607.stm

Festive sales will start early this year – including price cuts on Christmas Day – as VAT is set to rise, a retailing expert has said.

However, discounts will not be as generous as last Christmas, according to Don Williams, head of retail at accountancy firm BDO Stoy Hayward.

Debenhams started a £250m price cutting campaign with a four-day sale on Wednesday, six weeks before Christmas.

Many retailers are expected to promote cheaper prices before VAT rises.

The tax will revert to 17.5% on 1 January, having been cut to 15% in November 2008.

Newly established small firms should be given some form of tax exemption for their first year or two of business, a report has concluded.

The suggestion is one of 10 core findings in the study produced by the British Library’s Business & IP Centre.

It adds that a fast-track scheme should be created to help firms patent ideas, and that broadband speeds must rise.

The report has been produced to coincide with Global Entrepreneurship Week, which starts on Monday.

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The eurozone economy has emerged from recession after growing between July and September, figures have shown.

The 16 nations that use the euro collectively grew 0.4%, after shrinking by 0.2% between April and June.

The French and German economies both grew for a second consecutive quarter, confirming the eurozone’s two largest economies are out of recession.

However, both France and Germany grew by less than expected, a sign of how tentative signs of recovery remain.

The European Union as a whole – which includes non-eurozone countries such as the UK and Sweden – also emerged from recession, growing 0.2% in the third quarter.

Germany’s economy grew by 0.7% in the quarter, while France grew by 0.3%. Both economies and Japan ended year-long contractions in the second quarter of the year, while the US has since joined them after its economy grew in the third quarter.

However, the UK remains in recession, having contracted by 0.4% between July and September.

The UK, Europe’s second largest economy, has now contracted for six consecutive quarters, the first time this has happened since quarterly figures were first recorded in 1955.

Full story – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8358227.stm

A total of £2.1 billion was advanced to investment landlords during the three months to the end of September, 10% more than during the previous quarter, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said.

But despite the improvement, the figure was still the second lowest since records began in 2006 and well down on the peak of £12.4 billion which was lent during the third quarter of 2007.

There was also a 10% increase in the number of buy-to-let mortgages advanced during the three months, at 23,700, up from 21,600 during the previous quarter.

Source – Press Association – http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5grnCX0gpcdRIO60b52B5zOAisOpQ

In its latest inflation report, the Bank indicated it would be late 2011 before the UK economy recovered to the level it was at before the recession.

Mr King also warned inflation may “rise sharply over the next few months”.

He also said the Bank was “open minded” about extending its programme of pumping money into the economy.

Last week, the Bank extended the programme – a policy of injecting money into the economy through buying bonds from banks and other companies called quantitative easing – by £25bn.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8353931.stm

Bad credit card debts may reach as much as 9% of all outstanding balances by the end of next year, an accountancy firm has said.

“Bad debts in the sector have reached historic highs,” according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The figure stands at about 6% now.

This comes despite a “cooling passion” for credit cards, with borrowing down 3% to £64bn in the past year.

The number of credit cards in circulation has fallen by 8%, it said.

Full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8349153.stm

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A record number of people were declared insolvent in England and Wales in the third quarter of 2009, according to figures from the Insolvency Service.

There were 35,242 personal insolvencies, up 28% from the same period last year and an increase of 6.6% on the previous three months.

This extended the record number which was reported earlier this year.

But there was better news for business, with 4,716 company liquidations, down 4.7% quarter-on-quarter.

However, the number of businesses in England and Wales going bust in the third quarter of the year was still 14.6% higher than the same period a year ago.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8346170.stm

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