A poor session in Asia this morning and unconvincing display on Wall Street overnight weighed on the FTSE 100 as it opened four points down at 5,673.

Niall Ferguson knows a thing or two about bubbles, having examined at least eight in The Ascent of Money, his thorough analysis of the financial world.

US banking giant Citigroup reported a quarterly net profit of $2.2bn in Q3, a 6% fall from the previous quarter but still ahead of expectations.

LEADER

FUND MANAGER FOCUS

The FTSE opened at 5,727 this morning, sliding 0.08% in early trading, although there was a raft of M&A activity among the UK's largest companies.

Whether the US dollar index looks set to post its fifth successive weekly decline in a row will depend on how the markets react to today's US CPI, retail sales figures, and Michigan consumer confidence numbers.

THE BIG QUESTION

THE LEADER

CONJECTURE