THE US trustee handling the liquidation of the business of alleged $65 billion (e50bn) fraudster Bernard Madoff has told the High Court he has decided not to participate “at this stage” in court proceedings here.

JAPAN’S central bank raised interest rates for the first time in six years yesterday, lifting its key rate to 0.25% from 0% and affirming the end of a long era of deflation and economic stagnation.

A powerful rally in Tokyo stole the show in Asian stock trading today, but big European markets opened with losses in response to last night’s US interest rate cut.

Leading shares in London closed just off their intra-day lows after another erratic performance, with weakness in financial and 'old economy' issues preying upon early gains in the technology, telecom and media sectors - still buoyed by strong pre-weekend gains on the Nasdaq - dealers said.