oil

The FTSE 100 fell towards the 6,000 mark mid-afternoon as weaker than expected US jobs data combined with a sell-off in commodities to weigh on shares.

A Goldman Sachs research note advising investors to take profits in commodities will not have a significant impact on exchange-traded product flows, ETF Securities says.

Exchange-traded products tracking diversified broad commodity indices saw global assets increase by $5.2bn in Q1 2011, marking the largest quarterly inflows for the sector on record, ETF Securities says.

Oil has hit its highest level since August 2008 and has broken a new record in sterling terms, hitting £74.60 a barrel.

Did the boss of one of Britain's biggest supermarkets really 'gift' half of his £4m stake in the group to his wife? It's our round-up of this morning's headlines...

GDP figures for Q4 2010 have been revised up to 3.1% from the 2.8% forecast last month, helped by a rise in consumer spending and businesses restocking their inventories.

Joanna Faith asks top multi-managers for tips to benefit from the recent surge in global oil prices.

Global markets have been boosted by news of a ceasefire in Libya, rising oil prices and intervention by the G7 nations to suppress the value of the yen.

HOW TO PLAY THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS

World markets have responded positively to Brent crude futures falling by more than $3 after the Arab League said it was considering stepping in to end the crisis in Libya.