Standard Life emerged today as a possible gatecrasher to the merger of insurers Friends Provident and Resolution, after reports suggested the Edinburgh-based firm could be mulling a move on one of the parties.

London shares struggled to make significant progress today after a profits warning from Morrison’s and last night’s losses on Wall Street.

AS the FTSE 100 hit a year high last Friday, the debate going on among British and Irish analysts is whether the markets have run ahead of global economic recovery.

BRITISH stock market investors will turn to drugs and drinks companies this week, for evidence of whether British firms can repeat the earnings revival shown by US counterparts, seen as a key to sustaining the recent rally.

A WAVE of more upbeat company results and economic data have stoked a summer surge in British share prices and should keep them on the rise in the coming months — albeit at a less sizzling pace.