Federal Reserve

The managers of the £98m Melchior North American Opportunities fund have reversed out of defensive names into more economically sensitive sectors, following the string of positive economic data that has emerged from the US in recent months.

Fund managers are snapping up cheap portfolio insurance ahead of an expected market pull-back, after the VIX index hit pre-recession lows in March.

Markets moved modestly higher last week, which helped stocks to return one of the strongest first quarters in history.

ON NORTH AMERICA

FINANCIAL CRISIS

COMMODITIES

COMMODITIES

ON AA

Société Générale global strategist Albert Edwards has said Bank of England governor Mervyn King and former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan should be stripped of their knighthoods in light of the same fate befalling Fred Goodwin.

Leading fund managers are favouring US equities over markets including China and Europe as the appeal of owning dollar assets helps spark a shift into the world's largest economy.