Commodities

Tom Dobell, manager of the £7.7bn M&G Recovery fund, expects an uptick in M&A activity to rejuvenate performance in 2013 after a "tough" three years for the fund.

Oil prices dropped yesterday as economic data from China and Europe renewed concerns about a slowdown in global demand.

The price for gold bullion, measured in fine troy ounces, is fixed twice a day in London to allow market users to trade gold at a single level.

Sebastian Lyon has put more money behind unloved mining equities in his £2.2bn Trojan fund, after a prolonged period of underperformance from the sector.

The FTSE 100 gained more than 80 points in early trading while global markets leapt higher overnight, lifted by the Federal Reserve's latest round of quantitative easing.

BP has moved to offload a chunk of its oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico in a deal worth $5.5bn (£3.4bn), as the oil major continues to raise cash to cover the cost of the catastrophe in 2010.

AGRICULTURE

CONTRARIAN

Glencore has been hit by falling commodity prices, reporting a drop in pre-tax earnings of a quarter in the first half of the year, but will forge ahead with Xstrata merger plans despite a challenging backdrop.

Shares in platinum miner Lonmin fell sharply into the red on opening this morning, down more than 4%, as the group warned its 3,000 striking employees will be dismissed if they do not return to work today.