News

Legal & General Investment Management saw net inflows of nearly £8bn into its funds during the first half of the year.

The FTSE 100 rolled back some of yesterday's gains this morning, with Standard Chartered among the early casualties after announcing surprise plans to issue £1bn in new shares.

The FTSE 100 reached its highest level since October 2008 this afternoon, leaping more than 75 points to reach 4695.92 points.

Threadneedle's fixed income and alternative investment specialist Mark Pearce believes there are still attractive opportunities in emerging market government bonds.

Sterling has rocketed to a ten-month high against the dollar today as bullish equities and oil prices boosted market sentiment and investor risk appetites.

Barclays Wealth is reissuing its five-year Target Growth Plan which offers investors the opportunity for solid returns even if the FTSE 100 index suffers a significant fall.

Way Fund Managers (WFM) chief executive, David Pook, is to retire from the firm at the end of September with a number of changes also announced to the group's third party division, Elite.

The UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) reached 50.8 in July, the first time it has registered a level above the neutral mark of 50 since March 2008.

Two of Britain's biggest insurers are poised to slash dividends this week, potentially derailing the stockmarket's blockbuster summer rally, The Times reports.

Miners are leading the FTSE 100 higher this morning, as Barclays announced a near £3bn pre-tax profit for the first half of 2009.