ONE TO WATCH

Slight changes in performance is all that separates the leaders and the laggards in diminutive sector.

PIMCO chief executive Bill Gross has increased exposure to mortgage-backed securities (MBS), widely blamed for the collapse of the US financial system in 2008 and the cause of the credit crunch, on his $242bn Total Return fund.

Newton is planning to move Paul Brain's Global Dynamic Bond fund from the IMA Global Bond to the IMA Absolute Return sector.

Baring Asset Management has appointed Michael Simpson to the role of head of Latin American equities as it moves to expand its presence in the space.

Invesco Perpetual's co-head of fixed income, Paul Read, has told investors now is the time to be bullish on bank debt in the UK, US and Europe, with valuations at three-year lows despite huge improvements in balance sheets.

Angelos Damaskos, manager of the £40m Junior Gold fund and CEO of Sector Investment Managers, picks five gold miners best placed to benefit from the upswing in commodity prices.

Economists have predicted the MPC will leave the UK's base rate at 0.5% this week, despite mounting speculation it may slash it to 0.25%.

Allianz Global Investors has unveiled its second renminbi fund which aims to offer investors exposure to the expected appreciation of the currency.

A strong hint from the European Central Bank it will cut interest rates next month has buoyed markets in early trading, following sharp gains in the US and Asia overnight.