LONDON - London shares closed higher on Tuesday as investors hoped the two-day Federal Reserve Board meeting will not spark too sharp a reduction in the Fed's stimulus programme to shore up the United States economy, dealers said.

John Swinney announced an independent Scotland would have the same flat-rate pension of �144 per week planned by the UK but would increase it annually by the highest of earnings growth, inflation or 2.5 per cent.

Dalian Wanda Group, a Chinese developer, is investing 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in a British luxury yachtmaker and a London site where it plans to build Western Europe's tallest residential building.

Let's hope Charlotte Hogg enjoys her 15 seconds of fame. Her appointment as the first chief operating officer in the Bank of England's history is certainly newsworthy.

So-called core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was 0.2 per cent last month and 1.7 per cent for the last 12 months.