Europe

M&G's Michael Riddell has put 10% of his International Sovereign Bond fund portfolio in Italian government bonds in anticipation of a fresh liquidity injection from the European Central Bank.

Apple shares led the fallers on the Nasdaq shortly after open following a disappointing second quarter trading update from the tech giant.

Spain and Germany have moved to reassure investors the former will not need a full-blown bailout, while Greece has found itself back in the headlines after a warning it faces imminent bankruptcy.

ON EUROPE

BlackRock's Vincent Devlin said country risk is a serious threat for European equity investors as markets decouple in reaction to the eurozone crisis.

Spain's 5-year bond yields hit a new euro-era high at a disappointing auction today as investors cast doubt on the country's ability to repay its debt.

Investors are now paying to hold European Financial Stability Facility debt, after six-month t-bills sold at a negative yield at auction for the first time ever.

Henderson Global Investors has acquired French property asset management firm Horizon Investment Management.

Moody's has cut Italy's credit rating by two notches to Baa2 as the euro area's third biggest economy faces higher funding costs and contagion risk from Greece and Spain.

Warren Buffett has spoken out about the rapidly deteriorating state of the European economy, warning that there is no obvious answer to the region's problems.