Dividends are a key component of successful investing whether taken as an income to support retirement or reinvested to compound future total returns.With interest rates set to fall as inflation is gradually brought back under control dividend yields will become more competitive as a source of income compared with income from cash and bonds.In this article we scour the FTSE 350 for the...

Quarterly review due in weeks Four likely winners and losersA further three stocks could drop outWe may only be half-way through the third quarter, but already it looks as though there will be quite a few changes to the benchmark FTSE 100 index when the topic comes up for review next month.Promotion to, and demotion from, the index can have a big effect on the share prices of the firms...

Among the strategies that can richly reward those investors with a bit of patience is dividend growth investing.At its heart this involves putting money to work in companies that compound their earnings over time and convert a high proportion of profits into the cold, hard cash needed to fund consistent increases in the shareholder reward.One fan of this investing style is legendary US fund...

- Index changes to be announced tonight- Three new names to join the FTSE 100- Four new faces in the mid-cap FTSE 250Investors with FTSE tracker funds will be keenly waiting for details of the latest index reshuffle due to be published after the market close tonight.As well as changes to the FTSE 100 big-cap index there are expected to be several changes to the FTSE 250 mid-cap benchmark and...

Just why does consumer goods giant Unilever (ULVR) have a 10.5% stake in small cap clinical stage drug developer Arecor Therapeutics (AREC:AIM)?The company listed on AIM in June 2021 at 226p per share after raising £20 million of new capital.The shares have since gained 73% driven by positive results from a first phase trial of its ultra-concentrated rapid acting insulin product AT278.Arecor...

UK stocks got off to a positive start in a week which is likely to be dominated by economic news including consumer prices and employment.Sterling gave back some ground to $1.3680 after its month-long rally against the dollar but Brent oil prices remained stubbornly high at more than $86 per barrel.At 8.45am the FTSE 100 index of leading shares was up 50 points or 0.7% to another new high of...

The FTSE 100 finished the first trading session of the week in the red, shedding 0.54% to close at 7,445.25 points. Housebuilders dragged on the blue chip benchmark on the UK Government's plans to force them to pay to fix the cladding crisis which has followed the Grenfell tragedy in 2017.The more domestically-focused FTSE 250 ended the day 1.5% lower at 23,001.81 points.Investor sentiment was...

London's FTSE 100 was flat by midday at 7,482.12 points, with housebuilders weighing on the blue chip benchmark as the UK Government announced plans to force them to pay to fix the cladding crisis which has followed the Grenfell tragedy in 2017.The housing secretary will unveil plans this week for a £4 billion grant scheme to pay for repairs demanded by banks and insurers in the wake of the...

Major UK shares defied predictions of a positive start to the trading week on Monday with investors evidently nervous about a big week of data from the US.Worries over an imminent US interest rate rise, which could be triggered by a red-hot inflation reading later this week, put a dampener on sentiment. Friday's US jobs numbers didn't help confidence, with the prospect of wage pressures adding...

UK stocks started the week on the front foot with the FTSE 100 index gaining 0.8% to 7108.53 in early trading led by energy companies as oil prices continued their recent surge. Shares in BP (BP.) gained 2.2% to 327p and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) added 2.8% to £15.72.Brent crude traded 62 cents firmer at $78.71 per barrel, its highest level in over a year, as rising demand around the world in...

A positive US jobs report provided markets and banking stocks with a boost, driving the S&P 500 to a record high across the pond.However, London's FTSE 100 was subdued on Friday, despite gains for NatWest (NWG), Lloyds (LLOY), Barclays (BARC) and HSBC (HSBA).The blue chip benchmark finished the session broadly flat at 7,122.95 points, which was enough to ensure its best weekly performance...

Equity markets were muted on Friday after racking up solid gains in the earlier part of the week, with investors awaiting the all-important US monthly non-farm payroll report due out this afternoon.Last night, US markets hit new highs on growing optimism after a fall in weekly unemployment claims and a record high reading on the services PMI as spending shifted from goods to...

Multinational pharmaceutical company Hikma Pharmaceutical (HIK) reported a strong first half with core revenues up 7% to $1.22 billion and core operating profit 15% higher at $309 million.However, the shares dropped 3.2% to £25.58 as investors focused on the injectables division's modest growth in comparison to the exceptionally strong first half of 2020 when the division benefited from...

UK stocks took time out on Friday after racking up solid gains in the earlier part of the week, with investors awaiting the all-important US monthly non-farm payroll report at lunchtime.Overnight, US markets hit new highs on growing optimism after a fall in weekly unemployment claims and a record high reading on the services PMI as spending shifted from goods to services.Investment bank...

UK stocks moved higher heading into the weekend thanks to more positive company results both in the UK and the US.Overnight, online retail giant Amazon.com posted a fourth consecutive quarter of record earnings, helped by Prime subscriptions, advertising income and the strength of its web services business, sending its shares up 4% in after-market trading.In contrast, shares in Twitter fell...

London's FTSE 100 closed down 0.1% at 6,651.96 on Thursday, giving up earlier gains as a weak open on Wall Street unnerved investors. The S&P 500 was trading 0.9% lower at 3,889.41 as at 4.30pm UK time as strong durable goods orders helped stoke inflation fears.There was also some renewed signs of the Reddit-inspired volatility from January as the heavily shorted Texan computer games retailer...

London's FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 6,676.89 points by midday on Thursday, albeit off its high point for the day, with gains for the blue chip benchmark underpinned by strength in the oil and gas sector amid oil price strength on a busy day for corporate news.Mining companies rose on robust results from Anglo American (AAL), thanks to rising demand and tight supply, and talk of mergers and...

UK stocks built on their previous day's gains as mining companies rose on robust results from Anglo American (AAL), thanks to rising demand and tight supply, and talk of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) resurfaced.The FTSE 100 index of leading stocks added 18 points or 0.3% to 6,677 led by mining and packaging shares, while banks and house builders gave up some ground.The pound climbed above...

We're pleased to welcome back Malcolm from Edinburgh who is sharing his experience as someone in retirement taking charge of their investments for the first time. Having explained out how he set up his first portfolio Malcolm turns to how he is managing his investments.In an earlier column I explained my attempts at managing new investments in a SIPP and ISA pension fund.I detailed how half of...

UK markets closed higher on Thursday as investors here and in the US factored in a win for Democrat candidate Joe Biden victory in the race to the White House.The S&P 500 index jumped 2% while the technology-heavy Nasdaq index rallied more than 2% to put in its best weekly performance since April.In the UK, the Bank of England voted unanimously to leave interest rates unchanged at 0.1% and...