Markets

European equity markets are selling off alongside the euro this afternoon as investors react badly to ECB president Mario Draghi's announcement on new policy measures designed to save the euro.

The Bank of England has held interest rates at 0.5% for the 41st consecutive month and kept its bond-purchase target at £375bn.

Aviva Investors has sold its SRI funds business to Alliance Trust Investments in a £1m deal.

Schroders saw net inflows of £2.7bn in the volatile first half of the year as it revealed it is on the hunt for new talent.

Markets are hoping for further economic stimulus as the European Central Bank and the Bank of England embark on policy meetings later today.

The New York Stock Exchange cancelled trades in shares which rose as much as 150% yesterday after Knight Capital's electronic trading system malfunctioned.

The UK government is looking at fully nationalising beleaguered bank RBS in an attempt to kick-start lending to British businesses.

F&C's outgoing head of funds and investment trusts Charlie Porter has praised former activist investor and now group chairman Edward Bramson's strategic plan for the asset manager.

London's leading index was 60 points higher in afternoon trading despite a slump in UK manufacturing data, as Next and Standard Chartered lifted the market.

It has been a monumental ten years for equity and bond markets, with the euphoria of the first half matched by the despair seen on the faces of traders in the second half, after one of the worst financial meltdowns ever seen.