Markets mark time ahead of UK's deficit plan details

The FTSE 100 index and the pound were broadly flat while awaiting further details on how and where the Cameron government would make its cuts and tax rises.

If Mr Cameron chooses to follow the Spanish example, the impact will be bloody.

Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero said he would axe 13,000 public-sector jobs this year alone and slash pay for civil servants by 5%. "We have to make an exceptional and extraordinary effort to reduce our public deficit," he said.

He also announced plans to scrap one-off "birth payments" to new mothers of 2,500 (£2,100) and cut the link between state pensions and inflation. Regional governments have been ordered to slash costs by 1.2 billion.

Despite all the actions being taken by central banks, the IMF and governments, the gold price continued to rise as investors fled to it as a safe haven from potential catastrophes. Today it hit a fresh record at $1243.55 an ounce.

In the US, investors switched their focus back to domestic issues after a week of fretting about the euro debt crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was almost 1% higher in early trading in New York, with the boost coming from a report showing that US exports jumped in March to their highest level since 2008, signalling a further improvement for the manufacturing sector after consistent improvement in recent months.