Economics / Markets

SOAPBOX

SECTOR REPORT

The Dow Jones Industrial Average - one of the two most quoted indices in the US - has hit a record high above 14,200 points, surpassing its 2007 peak.

Tyneside-based Moneygate Group has purchased a minority stake in and formed a partnership with a high net worth financial planning firm Group Rapport.

FIVE THINGS

Gold has suffered the longest run of monthly falls since 1997 after the metal declined for the fifth month in a row in February.

Consumers are waking up to the follies of making knee-jerk investment calls as they become aware of opportunities missed and the returns they could have achieved in the four years since the 2008 financial crisis, according to one adviser.

Brussels is to curb bankers' bonuses from next year in a major blow to the City and the government.

The global economic recovery will slow this year unless the US averts $85bn (£56bn) in spending cuts that start today, the International Monetary Fund has said.

Lloyds Banking Group has narrowed its losses for 2012 to £570m, from £3.5bn the previous year.