Government bonds tumbled from Australia to Portugal and Treasury yields rose to a 20-month high after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said policy makers may end bond purchases in mid-2014.

The UK's banks have been told to find an additional �13.4bn of capital this year on top of the balance sheet-strengthening measures they had already been planning.

The UK's retailers saw strong sales growth last month after a disastrous April, with both volumes of goods sold and the amount spent rising to their highest-ever level.

PARIS - Shares in Eurotunnel which operates the under-sea tunnel between France and England fell by 4.47 percent on Thursday after the European Commission pressed for a cut in prices charged to run trains on the route.

Sebastian James, Dixons' chief executive, said the chain had experienced a "tablet explosion" last Christmas and, given that less than a third of British households have a tablet, there is "lots of road left in this particular product".

The Scottish first minister has backed a break-up of RBS to split its risky investment bank from its mainstream retail and business lending arm.

Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, today kicked off his campaign to bring genetically modified crops to the UK by calling on the government, industry and scientists to join forces to convert the public in the face of widespread fear and scepticism.

A home finance arranger has been fined nearly �1m, a record sum, for misleading homeowners when selling and renting back their properties.

If you had to think of an airline which would spare no expense to make its passengers happy, Ryanair might not be the first that came to mind.

Gross mortgage lending has hit its highest level since October 2008 as lenders advanced �14.7bn in May, Council of Mortgage Lenders' figures show.