FTSE 100

The Royal Bank of Scotland said today its costs would be "significantly" impacted if an upcoming vote on Scottish independence sees the region break away from the rest of the UK.

Barclays said today its underlying profits for the first half of the year had fallen 7% after a drop in investment bank revenue, while it also reported another huge bill to compensate PPI customers.

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FUND GROUPS

Investment trust analysts have slapped buy ratings on a number of smaller companies trusts, as recent selling opens up significant discounts in the sector.

Henderson UK Absolute Return fund

Global shares and US treasury yields fell on Thursday and Friday while gold soared as investors sought safety following a passenger jet crash in Ukraine.

Investors buying Scottish shares 60 years ago will have seen only half the returns enjoyed by those owning the rest of the UK's listed companies, according to a mocked-up 'Scotsie 100' index.

The SRI sector has drawn much attention since a series of tax breaks on social investments were introduced earlier this year. Annabelle Williams analyses the different types of SRI funds available to investors .