Equities

The gold spot price rose to its highest level this year yesterday as global equity markets started the quarter with strong rises.

Shares in Bumi, the London-listed coal miner, plunged over 25% today after it revealed an Indonesian miner it part owns is under investigation over potential financial irregularities.

In the latest Big Debate, our panelists from Legg Mason Global Asset Management, Smith & Williamson and S&P Capital IQ discussed US Equity Income.

Markets were trading in the red this afternoon as eurozone worries and a dispute between Japan and China weighed on investor sentiment.

The boss of a futures brokerage has pleaded guilty to embezzling over $100m from 24,000 customers in the US state of Iowa.

It is a phrase that has become synonymous with football, but soon Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer et al may have to pay for the privilege of nominating a 'man of the match'.

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.

The FTSE 100 has risen 2.1% and yields on benchmark Italian government debt have touched five-month lows as markets react positively to the ECB's bond-buying plans.

Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland led the FTSE 100 lower in early trading after MPs criticised the bank over its IT failure in June.

The S&P 500 is at a four-year high and the Dow looks set to follow as US equity investors continue to make gains.