News

BHP Billiton, the world's largest miner, said a deterioration in demand for commodities contributed to a 5.5% slide in half-year profits to $9.94bn (£6.25bn).

Neptune has outlined the underweight and overweight sector positions driving its Global Long/Short Sector fund, three months on from launch.

GlaxoSmithKline, the UK's dominant drugs company, has reported a decline in fourth quarter sales and announced a share buyback programme well below analysts' expectations.

Skandia Investment Group (SIG) has removed Aviva Investors' Julius Lipner from its UK Strategic Best Ideas fund, amid uncertainty over the group's retail future.

Poor results from companies such as Unilever, AstraZeneca and Shell last week showed the valuation gap between defensives and cyclicals is closing in a "vicious" fashion, according to JO Hambro Capital Management's James Lowen.

Francis Brooke, manager of the £428m Troy Trojan Income fund, has initiated a position in Aberdeen Asset Management as he believes the company is transforming itself into a "cashflow machine".

Newton's Tineke Frikkee is taking a more cautious view than consensus on UK dividends in 2012, forecasting growth of around 8% for the year.

Legg Mason's global bond portfolio manager, Jack McIntyre, has exited his Canadian and Chinese positions and upped exposure to Mexico as part of a move to higher yielding countries.

The FTSE 100 will break the 6,100 barrier in the coming months as momentum in equity markets picks up, said Julian Chillingworth, manager of the £60m Rathbone Blue Chip Income & Growth fund.

Prusik IM founder Heather Manners has bought into Vietnam for the first time in her funds' history in the view stocks are trading on Asian crisis-level valuations and could double from here.