UK dividends saw their biggest rise since the Lehman crisis after payouts climbed 10% in Q1, Capita Registrars research has found.

Moody's has downgraded Portugal's credit rating for the second time in less than a month and has warned it could fall further.

London's leading share index dropped below the 6,000 mark this morning as BP and Vodafone sold off parts of their asset base.

Gartmore saw outflows of £1.2bn in the three months prior to the completion of its takeover by Henderson, the new owner revealed today.

The FTSE 100 continued its rally this morning off the back of a strong showing in the US where better than expected earning pushed the S&P 500 through the 1,300 point barrier.

Japan could need up to five years to recover from up to $235bn (£145bn) worth of damage from the Tohoku earthquake, according to the World Bank.

Rathbones' David Coombs is adding Japanese stocks to his portfolio in the view its economy will rebound quickly from the aftermath of last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

A major earthquake in Japan last night rocked fragile markets already reeling from Moody's downgrade of Spain yesterday, with the FTSE 100 falling further after hitting a five week low.

Markets fell across the board at the start of trading today, after Moody's downgraded Spain's government debt from Aa1 to Aa2 with a negative outlook.

Jupiter has promoted Philip Matthews to the role of deputy manager on the £2.5bn Jupiter Income trust, run by Anthony Nutt.