News

Smith & Williamson's Tana Focke and Robert Royle have increased exposure to domestic earnings on the North American Trust after a recent US visit revealed growing optimism in the corporate sector.

The yield on German bunds has risen above UK gilts for the first time since 2009 after Japan shifted out of bunds overnight following Germany's disastrous debt auction.

A dire German bond auction rocked markets overnight, with Japan's Nikkei index hitting its lowest level since April 2009 as fears deepened over the eurozone crisis.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has warned Japan could face a downgrade over its inability to reduce its debt pile.

The cost of insuring against a default by Bank of America reached a new high yesterday as investors' fears over US exposure to the European debt crisis deepened.

INVESTMENT TRUSTS

The FTSE 100 has seen its longest losing streak in eight years as investors continue to sell-off shares amid fears over the state of the eurozone.

Margaret Cole, managing director of the FSA's conduct unit, has pledged to MPs the regulator will look again at how Capita calculated redress for Arch cru investors under its £54m payment scheme.

Kames Capital's bond fund manager Stephen Snowden said the ongoing crisis in Europe has left gilts looking much more secure than bunds in the medium term.

European equity markets and the euro fell deeper into the red today as Germany failed to attract buyers to its latest government debt auction.