Fitch said: 20.11 The Telegraph's Jeremy Warner has written a piece questioning George Osborne's plan to introduce 100-year gilts. Jeremy believes it could lead Britain to default: One hundred-year gilts are something of a red herring. Too high risk for most investors, they are unlikely to be sold in quantity - if at all. As pre-Budget hares go, this was a silly one to set running, and is worryingly indicative of a government - its tax policies already a confusion of political compromise - which is all out of ideas. 20.07 EU economics commissioner Olli Rehn is speaking in Lisbon. He strongly appreciates the efforts in Portugal and says the country is on track to address its fiscal situation and regain confidence; the economic reforms are gradually bringing results. However, he maintains that it is important that Portugal sticks to its fiscal goals this year. Rehn adds that the Portuguese situation is very different from Greece and trusts Portugal will remain on track. 20.01 US markets have closed. The Dow has closed up 17.25 - 0.13pc - at 13,194.93, the S&P 500 has ended the day down 1.65 - 0.12pc - at 1,394.3, and the Nasdaq has risen 0.85 - 0.03pc - to 3,040.73. 19.54 The FT is reporting that Iran's oil production has fallen to a 10-year low and could drop to levels last seen during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s amid sanctions over its nuclear programme. The country's crude production fell by 50,000 barrels a day to 3.38m b/d in February, according to the International Energy Agency. 19.52 Greek archaeologists have appealed to art lovers across the world to protest against austerity cuts taking a toll on the debt-stricken country's ancient monuments, temples and museums. The budget cuts have hit museums and archaeological sites hard, forcing some to shorten visiting hours or shut down and prompting concern about the level of security at some of the most precious archaeological sites. Despina Koutsoumba, head of the Greek Archaeologists' Association, said: Our cultural heritage is not for sale. We don't want markets to rule over our cultural heritage, our history and our democracy. We need everyone's help. We don't want our museums to become store rooms. What happened here will happen to other countries, too. 19.46 Meanwhile, in the UK, the UKFI has admitted that the taxpayer stakes in Lloyds and RBS may have to be sold off at a loss. 19.44 According to Dow Jones, French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants internet giants to pay tax in France. 19.07 French presidential candidate Francois Hollande has said parliament won't approve an unrevised fiscal treaty. 18.52 AFP has reported that the leader of Greece's conservative New Democracy party has called for a 15pc corporate tax and outsourcing tax collection as he presented his plans for overcoming the crisis. Antonis Samaras said: We will go for a corporate flat rate tax of 15pc, but at the same time we have to make sure there are no crooks in the system. If necessary we will get tax oriented companies like KPMG to help collect taxes. We have to make an appeal for outsourcing, even in collecting taxes and we'll also try to make public employees more competitive. 18.49 S&P report says investor confidence is improving in the eurozone but borrowers still face an uncertain outlook. It adds that investor concern over Portugal and Cyprus may be weighing heavily on markets. 18.33 Former US Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin has hailed Mario Draghi as an "excellent" ECB leader and claimed that QE3 in America "probably achieved very little, virtually nothing." 18.04 Bosnia's government is to seek a new loan from the IMF after the ongoing arrangement expires in June. In July 2009 the IMF approved a €1.2bn three-year stand-by loan in order to ease effects of the global economy crisis. 18.01 Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos is to resign from his post after taking over the leadership of the Socialist Party on Sunday. He expects national elections to be held in six to seven weeks. Venizelos adds that the debt swap reduces the burden on younger generation and that Greece needs strong political direction. He defends the country's current strategy, claiming that there "was no other road" except for the aid package. 17.31 We have just obtained a copy of the Greek Debt Sustainabilty Analysis, which is marked "strictly confidential": 17.08 The US has sold 30-year bonds at auction at a yield of 3.383pc - the highest since August 2011. David Song, Currency Analyst at DailyFX, has commented on the dollar: As the Federal Open Market Committee curbs speculation for more quantitative easing, the central bank may see scope to conclude its easing cycle in 2012, and we will maintain our bullish call for the USD as the fundamental outlook for the world's largest economy improves. As the FOMC takes note of the more robust recovery, we should see the committee start thinking about normalizing monetary policy, and the correlation between risk and the dollar is expected to breakdown throughout the year as the central bank raises its fundamental assessment for the region. 17.05 European markets have closed. The FTSE 100 fell 0.18pc to 5,945.43, the CAC added 0.4pc to 3,564.51 and the DAX jumped 1.19pc to 7,079.42. 16.54 David Cameron is holding a joint press conference with US President Barack Obama, in which he points out that cuts to the American deficit are even steeper than those planned in the UK. 16.29 José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, has reportedly told Greece's Amna News that there will be no new austerity in the country "for now." 16.19 Another vacancy at Goldman Sachs now. Bill McDermott, head of the Institutional Defined Contribution business, is reportedly leaving the bank. This follows a New York Times article by Greg Smith, who has resigned as an executive director at Goldman Sachs. 16.14 A small town in Italy is faced with losing its grip on the world's oldest bank. Reuters has reported that Siena's Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which was founded in 1472, could be about to change hands after its top shareholder - a charitable foundation - is being forced to cut its 49pc stake by almost a third. Rino Rappuoli, a senior executive at Novartis and one of Siena's most respected figures, said: The bank is the jewel in the crown for Siena, it's the pride of the city, the one that created most jobs. Working there is a dream for the young. 16.06 Swedish finance minister Anders Borg: "Increasing signs of lower economic risks." 15.41 Pimco chief executive Mohamed El-Erian has told Bloomberg TV that the Federal Reserve's stress tests - in which 15 of 19 banks passed - were a good sign for the economy: 15.29 The European Commission has said the Troika is exploring other avenues to support Irish banks. Together with the authorities and Troika partners, the commission is now exploring avenues to further strengthen the domestic banking sector such that it can better provide credit to the economy and support the recovery. There are separate technical negotiations going on with the troika and with the Irish government. The promissory notes are an element in this work. The Commission added that it is of the "utmost importance" Ireland is seen to honor its financial obligations. Meanwhile, junior finance minister Brian Hayes told state broadcaster RTE that Ireland will not be able to fully fix its banking system until a sector-wide resolution to the problem of loss-making tracker mortgages is found. 15.27 The Telegraph's Louise Armitstead has tweeted that the Treasury Select Committee has been told Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley carried out 25pc of mortgage repossessions in 2011 - about 8,800 in total. 15.18 Linda Yeuh, Economics Editor at Bloomberg TV: 14.57 Greece is to axe 40,000 bogus pensions, its labour minister has said, and warned that legitimate pensions, already cut by up to 40pc in the past two years, could be further reduced George Koutroumanis said: f this recession continues in 2013, 2014, 2015, nobody can expect that we will have the same level of salaries and pensions. 14.10 We are impressed by the commitment of Financial Times markets editor Christopher Adams (@ChrisAdamsMKTS), who has changed his Twitter profile picture to that of a muppet - we assume in tribute to the New York Times article by Greg Smith, who has resigned as an executive director at Goldman Sachs because of what he calls the bank's "toxic" culture of greed (see 12.20, 11.15 and 09.10 posts for more details). Mr Smith claims, among other things, that he witnessed Goldman managing directors calling their clients "muppets." 13.55 US shares are now open and trading higher - although not as enthusiastically as yesterday. The Dow Jones is up 0.2pc at 13,204.5, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.1pc to 1,397. European markets also continued this morning's gains - the FTSE 100 is up 0.4pc at 5,981.3, the CAC rose 0.8pc in Paris and the German DAX added 1.3pc. 13.10 Currency news from Norway - the country has unexpectedly cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to 1.5pc as it tries to push down the value of its currency. Economists had been expecting Norway to keep rates on hold, after the country cut rates by 0.5 percentage points in December, when the eurozone debt crisis was threatening growth in the rest of the region. A strong crown makes Norway's exports expensive and pushes up the cost of living. However economists said the country would risk inflating a housing market bubble if it cut rates any further. Oh to be Norwegian - property prices in the country are motoring, as the country's oil-rich economy outperforms the rest of Europe. And they have low inflation too... 12.45 The Chancellor's plan to raise money by issuing government bonds which are not repayable for 100 years hasn't attracted many ringing endoresements this morning. The National Association of Pension Funds says it thinks a 100-year maturity date is just too long: A 100-year bond would be too long for most pension funds, and we don't think that many would buy them. And Telegraph commentator Jeremy Warner says such bonds are a vanity project and basically involve "ripping off the public" who will see the value of their investment eroded: There comes a point in every Chancellor's reign when the manifest power and prestige of the job goes to the incumbent's head, and he begins to think of himself as some kind of demigod. For George Osborne, that moment seems to have come early in his stewardship with the grandiose notion, floated while on a visit with the prime minister to Washington, of an "Osborne bond" - a one-hundred-year gilt, or even a gilt issued in perpetuity, rather like the War Loan. From the Treasury's point of view, it makes perfect sense to try and refinance the ever-growing national debt at today's record low interest rates. Mr Osborne talks of "locking in the benefits of Britain's safe haven status" for future generations. But from the investors' point of view it makes no sense whatsoever and if it ever comes to pass, I can guarantee it will eventually be seen as one of the most colossal cases of mis-selling ever seen in the UK - and there have been quite a few. 12.20 Goldman Sachs have now put out their response to the article in today's New York Times by Greg Smith, the trader who has resigned from the bank because of its "toxic" culture (see 09.10 and 11.15 posts. The bank says: We disagree with the views expressed, which we don't think reflect the way we run our business. 12.00 The second Greek bailout has now been rubber-stamped - Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the eurozone finance ministers group, has issued a statement: All required national and parliamentary procedures have been finalized. His statement confirms the political agreement on the €130bn bailout agreed on Monday at the finance ministers meeting in Brussels. 11.15 Telegraph commentator Iain Martin has responded to the criticism levelled at Goldman Sachs in the resignation of executive Greg Smith, which took the form of an article in this morning's New York Times (see 09.10 post). Iain writes: This is what is known as a public relations disaster. This is going to run and run. Smith has got to have a best-selling book on Goldman Sachs and a long speaking-tour in him. Watch now for the reaction of the firm and the legions of PR people it employs. I am sure it will be said in some quarters that Smith is jumping before he was pushed etc. But it is a very tricky one to handle. If Smith is immediately machine-gunned by legions of Goldman "flacks" - financial PRs - won't it actually rather confirm the thrust of his allegations about the culture of Goldman Sachs? Have they the wit to engage properly? 11.10 And it's not all about the FTSE - other European shares have rallied this morning. The CAC is up 0.9pc in Paris, the German DAX climbed 1.4pc and Italy's FTSE MIB index has risen 1.2pc. 11.05 The FTSE 100 is edging closer to 6,000 points, trading at 5,986.56 at present. Why is this level significant? Well, as the chart below shows, the FTSE has only managed to climb above 6,000 points for brief spells in the past year, and when it did so in July it then fell like a stone as the news coming from the eurozone worsened. Crossing 6,000 points indicates a level of confidence among traders which has not been easy to sustain: 10.50 A good day for Italian bonds - the country successfully sold €5bn of bonds maturing in three years at an average yield of 2.76pc, and €1bn of seven-year bonds at a yield of 4.3pc. As a result, the yield on benchmark Italian 10-year government bonds slipped 3 basis points to 4.87pc in morning trading. The yield shows the success of the European Central Bank's cheap loans programme and Italy's commitment to spending cuts, which have pulled down the yield, or interest cost, on Italian government debt from above 7pc as recently as January. 10.40 The German cabinet has this morning has agreed a draft law which approves setting up a permanent eurozone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which has been capped (for now) at €500bn. Eurozone leaders have pledged to decide before the end of the month whether to increase the funds available, a move which Germany opposes. 10.20 Eurozone inflation figures for February are out now, and show prices rises running at 0.5pc higher compared to the previous month, and 2.7pc higher compared to this time last year. Both figures were in-line with economists' forecasts. 09.55 While unemployment has not fallen, the pace of job losses has slowed, according to Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight. Latest jobs data are mixed overall but the rise in unemployment does appear to have moderated recently which supports hopes that the economy is returning to modest growth. Admittedly, claimant count unemployment rose at a modestly increased rate of 7,200 in February to a 27-month high of 1.612m but this is well down on the increases seen a few months ago. 09.35 Unemployment figures are out now - and they don't make good reading for the Government. The unemployment rate stayed at 8.4pc, the highest level since late 1995, while the youth unemployment rate climbed to a record high of 22.5pc. Unemployment as measured on the broader ILO measure slipped to 2.666m for November to January, from 2.71m in the three months to the end of December, but the rate remained at 8.4pc. 09.10 From the horses's mouth - the finance story lighting up Twitter this morning concerns a very unhappy Goldman Sachs who has resigned via an article in the New York Times, called Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs. Greg Smith, head of the bank's US equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, writes that he is leaving after 12 years because "the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it" and outlines a "decline in the firm's moral fibre." The full article is worth a read (link above). Some cynical voices are already wondering at some of Mr Smith's pronouncements: 08.50 London traders have followed the outbreak of exuberance on Wall Street last night, sending the FTSE 100 to an eight-month high shortly after opening. The blue chip index rose to 5,980.18 in early trading, the highest intra-day since last July. The biggest gainers were insurers Legal & General, which rose 4.7pc to 131.2p and Prudential, which added 3.9pc to 793p. L&G today reported better-than-expected full year profits and raised its dividend by more than a third. Banking shares also performed well after a successful round of stress tests on US banks yesterday. Lloyds Banking Group was up 1.9pc to 35.26p and Royal Bank of Scotland climbed 1.6pc to 26.19p. 08.05 Shares in London are open for the day, and as expected, have risen to an eight-month high: The FTSE 100 added 0.3pc to 5,974 points shortly after trading started. 07.50 Staying with markets for now, the euro has suffered at the expense of the dollar this morning - the single currency was trading down at a one-month low of $1.3034. 07.30 Looking ahead to the European markets opening at 08.00, the futures market is betting shares will open higher, following the strong day on Wall Street yesterday and gains in Asia overnight.