Although a little bit weaker on Friday, markets are ending the week overall on a bullish footing, after the US Federal Reserve's broad hint on Wednesday that interest rates will be remaining low for some time put a rocket under many asset classes. Even the euro managed to stage an impressive recovery, pushing out to fresh highs for 2012 against the US dollar. But will it last? This week's podcast looks at what got traders excited in recent days and what to look out for in the week ahead.

Stock markets have made a steady if unspectacular start to 2012, with the volatility index falling to its lowest levels in more than five months, despite the S&P downgrade of France. But next week sees the UK firmly back in focus as GDP data on Wednesday will give us all some pointers as to whether the doom and gloom for our own economy has been overdone.

Once again the eurozone was firmly in focus, although the FTSE ended the week broadly unchanged. It's been more of a political tug of war this week that has left markets surprisingly patient, waiting for the next step in solving the debt. Of course Europe is likely to remain the main event in the week ahead, and as volumes start to drop off ahead of Christmas, traders are well aware of the possibility of sudden volatility across all asset classes.

The FTSE ends the week finally managing to break its worst losing streak since 2003, but once again the European debt crisis looks set to dominate much of next week before Friday's US unemployment data.

Once again it is the eurozone that has driven markets this week as the spotlight moves from Greece to Italy. With the rate of interest that the Italian government have to pay for their debt moving through 7%, markets once again started panicking about the prospect of yet another bailout. However as the week went on we have seen a surprising recovery across many assets - but with a vote expected this weekend from Italy on austerity cuts, how long will the stability last?

Just when we thought the eurozone crisis was entering its final stages, the decision by Greece to hold a referendum on the bailout threw a spanner in the works. Once again volatility has been the theme of the week, with developments and rumour surrounding Greece overshadowing the G20 summit.

A subdued week on markets as yet another weekend meeting is due to take place on resolving the European debt crisis. The odd rumour throughout the week provided occasional flurries of excitement, but overall an air of caution remained across most markets. However, the next few days could see volatility return as the results of the meeting are announced.

A calmer week all around on markets saw steady recoveries for indices, the pound and oil prices. The FTSE was particularly notable, finally cracking the top of the range that has proved a ceiling since September - but will it last...?

Yet again volatility was the theme this week with the FTSE closing below 5000 for the first time in more than a year – then ending the week near the top of its recent range. The Bank of England surprised many with its QE2 launch on Thursday – but is this really going to be enough to help the economy?

Another volatile few days for world markets, with optimism over Greece quickly dissipating as we have seen so many times. Join IG for a look back at what has been driving markets this week and a look ahead to forthcoming key events.