Bill Gross, founder of Pimco, one of the world's largest fixed-income managers, sounded a downbeat note on the US economy by saying it had gone into recession.

"If I had to be bold I'd say we began a recession in December," he said in a Financial Times interview, in which he called on the Federal Reserve to bring interest rates down to 3 per cent. The recession would last "four to five months", he thought, but would be prolonged if the administration and Congress failed to "take some rather unperceived and unforecasted measures in terms of fiscal stimulation".