UBS at Davos: "Maybe the world's not so austere": According to a white paper released by UBS for this week's World Economic Forum in Davos, one of the surprising factors "reshaping the world" - the Davos theme this year - is an aggregate absence of austerity among governments globally. European repo is decline: Izzy looks at the latest findings from the European Repo Survey by ICMA and notes that even though Euroepan repo has declined in the last half year, there has been an interesting pickup in funding to French banks by US money market funds. Gazprom net income falls 10%: Gazprom reported a 10.8 per cent drop in net income for the third quarter of 2013, reversing a first-half profit increase, due to growing operating costs and a drop in finance income that offset higher revenues from gas sales. Rouhani outlines plan for Iran's growth for next decade: Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, predicted on Thursday that his country had the potential to be one of the world's top 10 economies in the next three decades if sanctions were lifted and economic ties normalised. Pearson warns of rising restructuring costs and US slowdown: Pearson said that its profits for 2013 would be below analysts" expectations, after its North American education business faced continued problems and the cost of restructuring exceeded previous guidance by about £30m. Strong South Korean won and weak demand at home hit Hyundai revenues: Hyundai Motor reported an unexpected decline in sales for the fourth quarter of last year as the South Korean carmaker grappled with a strengthening domestic currency and weak demand at home. Sales for the three months through December were Won21.9tn ($20.4bn), down 3 per cent from the same period in 2012, Hyundai said on Thursday. JPMorgan raises alarm over rising euroscepticism in Britain: JPMorgan has warned that the UK could lose its clout in transatlantic trade and regulatory disputes if it exits the European Union, in the latest example of City alarm about rising euroscepticism in Britain. Markets: Stocks and industrial commodity prices were under pressure after a survey suggesting contraction in China's manufacturing sector hit confidence in the prospects for the world's second-biggest economy. Growth-focused currencies were being hit, while perceived havens such as the yen and Treasuries were moving higher. Investor anxiety was being ameliorated by upbeat news out of Europe, however. The single currency was up 0.6 per cent to $1.3632 on better than expected business surveys out of France and Germany. With sterling flirting with two-and-a-half year highs against the greenback - as strong jobs data sees investors bring forward the timing of an interest rate rise - this left the dollar index down 0.4 per cent to 80.85. But the focus was on China.