US stocks were higher yesterday as Apple once again shattered analysts' expectations after reporting a 59% jump in revenues against the previous year to $39.2 billion. Earnings per share were more than $2 a share higher than consensus forecasts, reaching $12.30. Apple's shares surged by 9% yesterday to $610 a share, erasing most of the declines over the last two weeks after an explosive start to the year which has seen it add more than 50% to their market value.

Telegraph
The bank funding crunch has begun to affect some of Europe's largest companies as eurozone lenders have started to place tighter terms on loans to even their biggest clients.

BBC
The chair of the European Parliament's economic and monetary committee, Sharon Bowles, has criticised some of her colleagues for ignoring the markets.
Ms Bowles chaired the session on Monday about the eurozone debt crisis.

BBC

The UK economy has returned to recession, after shrinking by 0.2% in the first three months of 2012. A sharp fall in construction output was behind the surprise contraction, the Office for National Statistics said. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction. The economy shrank by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Wall Street Journal
Greece's top central banker called on the government to speed up efforts to close the budget gap amid growing concerns elsewhere in Europe that Athens can't pull itself out of its debt spiral. Bank of Greece Governor George Provopoulos said that the lack of fiscal and other reforms were deepening Greece's recession.

Until recently, inflation has been the primary worry with rising fuel and food prices but the tables have turned and global growth concerns have been troubling investors. Over the past month we have seen gold reach record highs, increases in unemployment, and amid growth concerns the Bank of England keeping interest rates on hold. The ‘R’ word has been infiltrating the news again and people are tightening their belts.