Markets

Insurance firm Aviva suffered a loss of £3bn in 2012 due to a £3.3bn writedown from the sale of its US business last year.

Schroders has revealed its pre-tax profits fell 11% over the year to 31 December 2012, largely due to a slump in profits in the private banking arm.

Henderson's chief executive Andrew Formica has teamed up with Nichola Pease and a range of asset managers to launch an initiative to get young people in the UK work experience - and potentially jobs - in the City.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has told the country's 50 leading payday lenders that they have 12 weeks to change their business practices or risk losing their licenses.

Sir Mervyn King, the outgoing Governor of the Bank of England, has written to a small business owner to offer his sympathies after the man's own bank refused him a loan.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average - one of the two most quoted indices in the US - has hit a record high above 14,200 points, surpassing its 2007 peak.

ONE TO WATCH

The UK's blue chip index is trading back near a five-year high this morning after a near 1% gain, as a bumper set of results lift shares.

Some of the largest funds in the IMA Global Emerging Markets and Asia Pacific ex Japan sectors have significantly increased exposure to Indian equities over 12 months to the end of January.

China's stock market has rebounded slightly on Tuesday after its worst day for 18 months, as the country's parliament begins its annual session.