Markets

Economist and renowned commentator on Japan, Arcus Investment's Peter Tasker, said in the last 20 years the country has been through the most severe and prolonged bear market ever seen.

China's economic growth picked up in the fourth quarter of 2012, but data for the year as a whole showed the country recorded its slowest growth for 13 years.

After a strong run in equity markets, with the FTSE soaring through 6,100 in the first month of 2013, could history repeat itself via a pullback or even a full-blown correction in the spring months?

Schroders' head of UK equities Richard Buxton has said the FTSE could be set to move into a higher trading range after the index passed the 6,000 mark in a strong start to 2013.

Better than expected results at some of the UK's major retailers gave a lift to UK fund managers today as Xmas numbers beat gloomy forecasts.

Liontrust's Stephen Bailey and Jan Luthman have been upping their exposure to asset management firms ahead of an anticipated "triple positive whammy" for the sector in the years ahead.

Fidelity's head of research for European equities, Henk-Jan Rikkerink, has outlined eight core themes revealed in a recent survey of the group's investment professionals.

US

One of the industry's most widely followed strategists, Albert Edwards, has said depressed European equity markets are a once in a lifetime opportunity for investors following the savage sell-off in 2012.

Solid inflows into its mutual fund business and segregated mandates, as well as positive market movements, helped Jupiter grow its assets under management to over £26bn in Q4.