Peter Hargreaves, the founder and CEO of Hargreaves Lansdown, says former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was a "million times" better for businesses than current incumbent David Cameron.

BP is facing a bill of up to $34bn from the Gulf of Mexico disaster after US senators demanded the oil company deposited $20bn into a ring-fenced account to meet escalating compensation costs.

The Dow Jones posted triple-digit gains in early trading on Thursday after positive economic data at home and abroad boosted sentiment.

France and Germany have called for rapid agreement on new EU rules to ban elaborate forms of speculation on national debt and company shares.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has announced a probe into parts of the investment banking industry.

Shares in BP tumbled to their lowest level since 1996 in US trading Wednesday on fears the company won't pay out its planned dividends to shareholders.

Miners helped the FTSE advance more than 80 points after three hours' trading Wednesday as fears Europe's debt crisis could hamper global growth softened.

Prudential's efforts to persuade shareholders to back its $35.5bn takeover of AIA, the Asian business of AIG, have been dealt a blow after an influential voting adviser to investors told its clients to vote against the deal.

Updated 12.30pm: The FTSE plunged in midday trade after Chancellor George Osborne unveiled details of the coalition government's £6.2bn spending cuts.

George Osborne's hopes of a "Tell Sid" style privatisation of RBS and Lloyds Banking Group have been dashed by the government's pledge to launch a year-long investigation into splitting up the banks.