FTSE 100

Banking shares dragged the UK's leading index lower in morning trading following results from Lloyds Banking Group which revealed a £570m loss for 2012.

London's leading share index has made modest gains throughout the day, held back by heavy losses from Royal Bank of Scotland and a number of miners.

Outsourcing giant Capita has made no further provision for Arch cru liabilities in its latest set of results.

Jupiter has been tipped as a likely winner in the asset manager space as the gap between those who receive advice and those who do not widens and pushes more consumers to self-invest.

US shares fell for the second day running overnight as investors continued to take profits after the recent run-up to multi-year highs.

The FTSE 100 tumbled nearly 2% in morning trading after the US Federal Reserve spooked markets yesterday by warning it may slow its asset purchase programme.

Goldman Sachs has taken Barclays off its buy list following the unveiling of the bank's restructuring plans last week, pushing additional pressure on its shares.

The UK's blue chip index has climbed to a five-year high above 6,400, surpassing the peak of 6,376 seen before the financial crisis.

Neptune founder Robin Geffen has blamed an underweight to financials for the recent poor performance of the £922m Neptune Income fund.

Returns from the UK equity market have come in for some heavy criticism recently, but experienced investor Graham Ashby argues returns over the last decade show it has been far from a poor choice for investors.