Markets

Shares in Home Retail Group and Ocado - two of the most shorted stocks in the UK equity market - have leapt this morning after a pair of well-received announcements.

Central banks are pursuing domestic priorities and are not engaged in competitive devaluation, a senior Swiss economist told delegates at the recent FX Invest conference.

Underlying pre-tax profit at F&C rose 11% to £52.4m in 2012 as the group's 18 month restructuring programme drew to a close.

The director-general of the Institute of Directors (IoD) has hit out at the pay packages received by bankers.

UK income investors could be in for a dividend windfall as sterling continues to slide against the dollar, analysts have suggested.

Germany's second largest bank Commerzbank slid as much as 14% today after it said it will sell €2.5bn to repay the government and insurer Allianz amid a company restructure.

Goldman Sachs has forecast the FTSE 100 could reach 7,200 within the next 12 months - a new record high for the market.

A gang who made a film starring a former Eastenders actor solely as a £2.8m tax scam have been convicted at Southwark Crown Court.

Shares in travel operator Thomas Cook jumped this morning after the firm outlined a further raft of cost-cutting measures.

M&G broke its own records in 2012 to post soaring inflows and AUM at an all-time high, according to its full-year results, but expects sales in the UK to slow this year.