The FTSE 100 opened strongly at the start of the week, boosted by Friday's late rally on Wall Street and positive corporate news.

The FTSE 100 has fallen sharply this afternoon on news 131,000 jobs were shed in the US last month.

First State has overhauled the £142m Pacific Assets Trust it recently took over from F&C, selling all but five of the existing stocks.

HSBC has launched a Global Inflation Linked Bond fund which will invest in sovereign debt issued by OECD countries.

Net retail sales once again exceeded £2bn in June having suffered a fall the previous month, according to the IMA.

The FTSE 100 has soared 1.98% this morning as HSBC more than doubled pre-tax profit to £7bn.

J.P. Morgan has raised £104m for its new Global Emerging Markets investment trust.

F&C Global Growth fund manager Terry Coles is joining Newton's global equities team in September.

The Witan investment trust has handed a £120m pan-European mandate to Marathon Asset Management.

First State's Asia Pacific and global emerging markets team has raised concerns that loose monetary policy in OECD countries is threatening developing nations.