London's blue chip index approached its year-high in morning trading, with banking shares among the best performers, as hopes for a resolution to the US fiscal cliff boosted sentiment.
Investment Week rounds up the most memorable quotes from our favourite (and most outspoken) industry commentators throughout 2012.
The FTSE 100 has reached its highest level since March following positive consumer data from Germany and signs of improving growth in China.
Panic about house prices, asset bubbles and China caught our readers' attention this year, with the views of leading hedgies and controversial industry figures featuring in our list of the 20 most read stories of 2012.
UK stocks crept higher ahead of today's Autumn Statement, with the FTSE 100 nearing 5,900 points as miners lifted the market.
European stocks slumped in afternoon trading ahead of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers to agree on the next tranche of aid for Greece.
The FTSE 100 has added to recent gains in early trading this morning, raising the prospect of the index posting its largest weekly gain since last December.
Shares in Barclays led the FTSE 100 leader board today as investors reacted to an upgrade from Goldman Sachs.
The FTSE 100's dismal week continued today as the UK's leading index fell to a four-month low, and remains on course to make a loss for the week.
US indices slumped overnight as prospect of politicians at loggerheads over the fiscal cliff continued to worry investors.