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.

Deven Sharma, the man who oversaw the downgrade of the US' credit rating earlier this month, is stepping down as president of Standard & Poor's.

Global funds were the best sellers in June after attracting record interest from investors, according to the Investment Management Association (IMA).

Inflation in the eurozone dropped 0.2% to 2.5% in July, surprising analysts which forecast the figure to remain unchanged.

Aegon is set to sell its Guardian life insurance arm for £250m, according to the Sunday Times.

European markets have surged on reports eurozone leaders will back a 'selective default' on Greek debt.

The Treasury Select Committee (TSC) has criticised the Vickers' report on the UK banking sector, arguing its proposed reforms are impossible to assess as they are unclear and lack detail.

Parmenion has created a range of seven risk-graded multi-asset funds in collaboration with Frontier Investment Management.

The European Central Bank has hiked its benchmark interest rate to 1.5% as expected.

Nick Griffiths, co-head of interest rates and global portfolios at Aberdeen, has been poached by Legal & General Investment Management.