3.01pm GMT

It is mid-afternoon and Europes markets are holding their gains.

2.44pm GMT

David Cameron has been urged to take a stand against modern-day slavery and the abuse of migrant workers in Qatar.

As David Cameron prepares to meet the Emir of Qatar, the Trade Union Congress said the prime minister should use his influence to seek to end the abuse of migrant workers in the Gulf state.

Conditions for foreign workers in Qatar, including those building the infrastructure needed for the 2022 World Cup, continue to be of grave concern.

Figures confirmed by Qatar show that 964 workers from India and Nepal alone died between 2012 and 2013, a rate of 40 every month, with unsafe working and living conditions equally to blame. Many other workers are left for months without pay. These workers are completely trapped by the sponsorship system known as kafala which gives employers complete power to grant or deny workers the right to leave Qatar.

Silence from David Cameron will be taken as support for what is effectively slavery in Qatar. Britain must be part of the international campaign to ensure that Qatar improves living and working conditions for migrant workers.

2.02pm GMT

Is it time to say goodbye to US financial stimulus?

The US Federal Reserves interest-rate setting committee begins a two-day meeting, expected to conclude tomorrow with an announcement ending its asset-buying programme.

About two-fifths of economists39%expect the Feds bond purchases to end entirely in the third quarter of 2014. About one-third34%expect the central bank to halt the program in the fourth quarter, and 19% expect the end to come in early 2015.

The dollar is stable at the moment and has maintained a strong position since its steady appreciation in the second half of the year, but any sign of prolonging the QE programme, or extending low interest rates for longer should damage the greenback.

1.14pm GMT

In Rome, discussions about the fate of Europes oldest bank are underway.

Officials, who declined to be cited by name, said Monte dei Paschi Chairman Alessandro Profumo and Chief Executive Fabrizio Viola had held meetings in the Economy Ministry on Monday to seek options for the bank, after it failed European Central Bank stress tests.

The person close to the situation gave no details of the talks but said nothing had been ruled out, including options connected with repayment of 750 million euros of state aid, offered in the form of Monti Bonds in 2013 to prop up the bank after a previous crisis.

Asked whether a delay in the repayment schedule or converting the loan into share capital in the bank was being looked at, the person said: All options are under consideration. The bank is working on it. The system is solid.

12.54pm GMT

Over on the Guardians data blog, new figures reveal how Spains years of recession have damaged the country.

11.52am GMT

Are France and Italy off the hook?

Both countries may have averted a fight with the European Commission over their budget deficits.

These are cosmetic changes aimed at responding to the Commissions demands with as little as possible. We might have 4.1% of (headline) deficit instead of 4.3% but we wont be at 3% .

11.25am GMT

The Chinese authorities are clamping down on officials playing the ancient game of mahjong, as part of continuing anti-corruption drive that has hit the sales of luxury goods firms.

The phenomenon of Communist officials going to rural retreats to have fun, play mahjong and poker… must resolutely stop.

The commentary was the latest in a series of state-issued broadsides against official extravagance, as Chinas President Xi Jinping attempts to improve the Communist partys image in response to widespread anger over endemic corruption.

The campaign has led to an unprecedented investigation into retired security czar Zhou Yongkang, though the vast majority of officials punished since Xi came to power have been from the governments lowest levels.

The campaign against graft has been blamed for falling sales of luxury items, and hit business at expensive hotels and restaurants, according to reports.

11.05am GMT

European markets are up, with Italy and Germanys benchmark index leading the way.

10.43am GMT

The risk of deflation in Sweden has not disappeared, despite todays unprecedented decision to move to zero interest rates.

Jessica Hines at Capital Economics warns that Sweden may have to resort to stiffer measures, such as currency intervention to avoid deepening deflation and a Japan-style lost decade.

The Riksbank had little choice but to cut today. It has been roundly criticised for not responding quickly enough to the low level of inflation and a failure to act would have undermined its credibility further. Moreover, it would also have put upward pressure on the krona, which the Riksbank would not have wanted given that exporters are still struggling.

With the policy rate at zero, the Riksbank will need to start thinking about what action it might taken if inflation continues to be weaker than it has forecast.

10.38am GMT

The Bank of England is concerned that climate change could damage the earnings and solvency of the UK insurance industry.

The FT reports that the banks Prudential Regulation Authority, has written to insurance companies asking them whether they have considered climate change could affect their investment portfolios.

Scientists have been warning for years that greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels are driving warmer global temperatures and could increase the frequency of devastating natural disasters such as Typhoon Haiyan, which killed thousands of people when it ploughed into the Philippines last year.

But the Bank of England appears to be one of the first central banks to address potential climate risks for insurers.

10.27am GMT

Nice chart from Jamie McGeever at Reuters on why Sweden has embarked on zero interests.

Why Swedish interest rates have been cut to 0%. Inflation threatening to turn into deflation: pic.twitter.com/kvdTIJtoGo

10.21am GMT

Spare capacity in the electricity grid system has fallen, but the National Grid has said there is no risk of blackouts.

In its winter outlook, the operator of pipes and pylons said that electricity margins the difference between peak demand and available supply had fallen to 4.1% from 5% at peak periods last year because of planned generator closures, breakdowns and delays to new plants.

Gas supplies remain strong after last years mild winter, with gas capacity higher than the maximum expected demand, National Grid said.

National Grid: no risk of winter blackouts

There will be secure energy supplies this winter. There will be no power cuts to householders. Of course, there may be bad weather and we have taken measures to ensure that the distribution networks are stronger than they were last winter…

My view is that those three things arent equal – cost, climate change and energy security. For me, energy security comes first because if you dont have secure supplies then the other two become completely second order.

10.00am GMT

Ouch. Shares in the Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered have slumped to a 5-year low, after the bank reported falling profits.

Standard Chartereds London-listed shares are down more than 9% to 993 pence this morning.

Even with extra cost-cutting, its too early to say when StanCharts fortunes will improve. Until the bottom line stabilises, investors will remains wary .

9.45am GMT

Swedens central bank explains that it cut interest rates to zero because inflation is too low.

The bank has a target of 2% inflation

The Swedish economy is relatively strong and economic activity is continuing to improve. But inflation is too low. The Executive Board of the Riksbank has therefore decided that monetary policy needs to be even more expansionary for inflation to rise towards the target of 2 per cent.

Despite the fact that both GDP and employment have increased at a relatively good rate over the last 12 months, inflation has continued to be lower than expected. The broad downturn in inflation and the repeated downward revisions to the inflation forecast imply that underlying inflationary pressures are very low and lower than previously assessed. This, taken together with lower inflation and a weaker development of economic activity abroad, means that it is expected to take longer for inflation to reach 2 per cent.

To boldly go where no-one has gone before – zero rates at Riskbank – what housing bubble? #SEK

Swedish central bank #Riksbank cuts interest rate to zero to fight deflation risk. Non eurozone BoE watching closely

9.35am GMT

Swedens central bank has taken markets by surprise by slashing interest rates to zero, sending the Swedish krona to a four-year low against the dollar.

The Riksbank had been forecast to cut rates to 0.1% from 0.25%, but went the whole way and reduced them to nothing to help avoid the risk of deflation.

9.16am GMT

Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered has reported a 16% slide in profits, as the bank struggles to respond to slowing growth across the region and increased compliance costs.

Standard Chartered reported £1.5bn profits for its third quarter, down from £1.83bn the previous year.

Whilst trading conditions remained subdued, we did see a modest return to year on year income growth during the quarter. We are executing our refreshed strategy, including reprioritising investments, exiting non-core businesses, de-risking certain portfolios and reallocating capital. To create more capacity for investment in the many opportunities in our markets, we are taking further action on costs, targeting more than US$400 million in productivity improvements for 2015.

9.03am GMT

Lloyds Banking Group- eight things we have learned from the results

8.56am GMT

The UKs third-largest energy company BG Group reported a lower-than-expected fall in profits, hit by falling oil prices and falling production from its Egyptian refineries.

From Reuters

BGs total operating profit came to $1.3 billion in the third quarter, undershooting a company-provided consensus of $1.4 billion, as its Egyptian output halved compared with the previous year to 55,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) due to its depleting reservoir.

In the third quarter BG sold its oil at an average of $104 per barrel, down from $112 the previous year, while its average UK gas price fell 17 percent to 37 pence per therm.

8.38am GMT

Lloyds shares are down 1.15% to 74.7 pence this morning.

The FTSE100 as a whole has nudged up 0.6% to 6401 points.

8.27am GMT

BP has been hit by a steep drop in revenues from its Russian partner Rosneft.

The oil company reported that underlying net income from Rosneft for its third quarter was $110m, against $808 m last year. The sharp drop off has been blamed on the depreciation of the rouble against the dollar and lower oil prices.

Growing underlying production of oil and gas and a good downstream performance generated strong cash flow in the third quarter, despite lower oil prices. This keeps us well on track to hit our targets for 2014.

8.00am GMT

More reaction on Lloyds

BREAKING: Unite calls for no compulsory redundancies over Lloyds job losses #MoreSoon

Unites Rob MacGregor: These are deeply unsettling times for Lloyds staff. #MoreSoon

The staggering PPI mis-selling bill continues. The extra provision announced by Lloyds today shows this scandal is far from over. @WhichNews

7.50am GMT

Lloyds bank will lose around 150 branches, although the company says that most customers will still have a bank within five miles.

This brings an end to Lloyds pledge to be the last bank in town.

We are committed to maintaining or growing our share of branches and will optimise our network by consolidating mainly urban branches in overlapping locations. We anticipate this will lead to a net reduction of about 150 branches. Over 90 per cent of Lloyds and Bank of Scotland customers will continue to have a useable branch within five miles of their home, while the Halifax branch network will be maintained.

7.47am GMT

Here are some of the other headlines from the Lloyds announcement this morning, courtesy of Reuters.

7.43am GMT

Here is how the Unite union has reacted to Lloyds job cuts – via the Guardians City editor.

Unite on Lloyds jobs cuts: "The wallets of top executives at Lloyds should not be getting fat by forcing low paid workers onto the dole"

7.40am GMT

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and the business world.

Lloyds Bank have announced they are cutting 9,000 jobs in addition to the 45,000 that have gone since the 2008 bailout and rescue of HBOS.

Bailed out Lloyds Banking Group confirms 9,000 job cuts and 150 branch closures

Within the organisation, we will rebalance roles to reflect the evolving nature of the business and ensure we have the people and capabilities required for the transition to a more digitised, IT enabled business. We anticipate a reduction of approximately 9,000 full time roles across the business while building new capability in digital and IT.

Our plan outlines how we intend to deliver value and high quality experiences for customers alongside superior and sustainable financial performance within a prudent risk and conduct framework. We remain committed to Helping Britain Prosper*, supporting the UK economy and the communities in which we operate.

*Lloyds capitalisation

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