Equities

Former New Star manager Patrick Evershed has reportedly been jeered at Barclays' AGM today after attempting to defend the bank's bonus proposals.

Alan Custis and Alan Clifford have stuck with insurers amid early signs the sector is rebounding from the sharp falls sparked by Chancellor George Osborne's move to change the pensions landscape.

Google shares moved sharply lower in after-hours trading following a disappointing update, with the negative sentiment that has blighted the sector showing no sign of abating.

Another day of losses yesterday has left the UK's main mid-cap index down almost 7% since the start of March - underperforming both large and small caps as warnings on valuations made at the start of the year ring true.

The FTSE 100 was down nearly 1% this morning, while gold was in the ascendency, as investors sold down BP amid the latest developments in Ukraine.

The Royal Bank of Scotland has agreed a deal to scrap its Dividend Access Shares, bringing the resumption of dividend payments by the bank much closer.

The number of new jobs created in the US in March has missed estimates but failed to dent investor optimism as US markets opened higher this afternoon.

Brown Shipley has appointed six analysts in a bid to strengthen the investment team's equity and credit coverage.

St James's Place is to reallocate £7bn in mandates currently run by Invesco Perpetual to Neil Woodford and Threadneedle, with a further £700m mandate going to Manulife.

THE BIG QUESTION