Equities

A government-backed report on the UK's financial services industry is expected to call for an end to the requirement for companies to issue quarterly updates.

Barclays continues to face a leadership crisis following the LIBOR scandal, with two of its most senior executives ruling themselves out of going for the top jobs at the bank over the weekend.

THE BIG QUESTION

Invesco Perpetual's Neil Woodford has said he expects profit warnings will come "thick and fast" in the near term after identifying them as a key risk to markets in the current environment.

Schroders has launched three emerging market debt funds to be managed by recently recruited co-heads of fixed income James Barrineau and Rajeev de Mello.

Richard Wilmot, manager of Newton's £1.3bn UK Equity fund, has made a foray into the UK banking sector, snapping up shares in Barclays.

US-based manager Brandes Investment Partners has launched an Emerging Market Equity fund as part of a push into the UK retail market.

Microsoft has reported a quarterly net loss of $492m, its first in 26 years as a public company, but it and Google helped ease concerns over the resilience of the tech sector as sales rose despite overall.

Shares in Resolution Limited are selling off sharply this afternoon after it scrapped a planned £250m payment to shareholders amid a warning over its capital position.

The S&P 500 climbed to a two-month peak last night, closing at its highest level since early May.