BP faced fresh takeover speculation on the weekend after the Obama administration reportedly told ExxonMobil it would not stand in the way of a takeover bid for its troubled British rival.

Chancellor George Osborne is considering dropping the Pre-Budget Report from the coalition Government's roster of economic events.

M&G scooped three gongs at the 15th annual Investment Week Fund Manager of the Year awards last night, including the prestigious Global Group of the Year title.

M&G multi-asset fund manager David Jane has decided to leave the group.

Bryan Collings' Hexam Capital has taken over majority control of its joint venture boutique with Ignis.

Q & A

Fidelity will launch an income share class on Sam Morse's £3bn European fund, which will provide an estimated yield of 3.2%.

Cofunds chief executive Brett Williams has quit the platform with immediate effect with chairman Charlie Eppinger resuming the CEO role on an interim basis.

Anthony Bolton's Fidelity China Special Situations trust is now fully invested as the manager expects a resumption of the bull market later in the year.

The FTSE opened more than 1% higher on Thursday after Wall Street rallied the most in six weeks to edge back above the 10,000 point barrier.