dollar

Sterling tumbled in overnight trading and was poised for further losses today after the latest poll showed Scotland is on course for independence.

Stock markets have jumped this afternoon following a series of drastic measures from the European Central Bank to stave off a downturn and boost inflation.

Sterling has climbed to a four-year high against the dollar after the UK's jobless rate, one of the triggers for an interest rate rise, was breached.

The sharp drop in the UK unemployment rate and mounting expectations of a 2014 rate hike pushed sterling to a two-year high versus the US dollar in morning trading.

The US dollar is closing in on a five-year high versus the yen, with gold heading towards a one-year low, ahead of the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's historic December meeting.

Investec Asset Management's John Stopford, manager of the Diversified Growth fund, outlines his five themes for investing for income in 2014, including a cheap dollar, inflation disappointment, and opportunities in EMD.

Delayed US jobs figures for September have missed expectations, a development which all but rules out the prospect of a slowdown in US QE before 2014.

Sterling rose to its highest level in nine months against the US dollar as the US government slipped into a partial shutdown.

The US Federal Reserve surprised investors and sent shares soaring after it unexpectedly opted to hold back on any tapering of its stimulus last night.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has named its top ten trades for this autumn as investors prepare for a tapering of QE in the US and a possible jump in interest rates.