A deal by US lawmakers to raise the country's debt ceiling passed its first hurdle last night but failed to lift shares after dreadful manufacturing data.

JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) has launched a global equity absolute return fund to meet what it said was rising investor demand for products that can be benchmarked against cash.

Those looking to maximise returns in the first half of the year should have parked their money in Eastern European equity markets such as Hungary and the Czech Republic, according to data from S&P's.

Wealth manager Brooks Macdonald has launched its long-awaited funds business comprising a seven-strong range of portfolios.

The Greek parliament has narrowly voted to approve a drastic austerity package despite facing widespread opposition.

Schroders has converted its Diversified Target Return fund into a third low cost fund, Schroder Dynamic Multi-Asset.

Oriel Securities has highlighted the top equity based investment trusts yielding more than the FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and Small Cap.

The FTSE 100 was down more than 1.3% in early afternoon trading as weak data from China and ongoing fears for the US economy hit risk assets.

Man Group has launched a multi-strategy fund investing across a range of its own funds, and those of its subsidiaries including recently acquired GLG Partners.

Anthony Bolton's China Special Situations investment trust saw performance take a hit from the cost of options he took out to protect against the political situation in Korea.