Every sector in the UK market rose in May enabling the market overall to increase by mid-single digits. The spread of returns ranged from barely positive for Consumer Staples to high-single digits for Materials. However, most sectors made gains in the lower half of the range. Over the course of the year to date, three sectors - Financial, Industrials and Utilities - have made gains well into double digits. External political factors were the main drivers of moves in the marke

Dividend forecasts for next year continued to edge modestly higher in March. Increased forecasts in the bank sector outweighed reductions in the resource, leisure and pharmaceutical sectors. A small gain in the sterling dollar exchange rate was a contributing negative factor for the forecasts for those companies that report in dollars. Because of this headwind from a stronger sterling UK share prices edged lower over the month as sentiment stayed broadly negative. The period

After a strong start to the year in January, UK equities only just managed to deliver a positive return in February. Only two sectors, Financials and Health Care, recorded healthy gains in mid-single digits while the rest either had small gains or losses. Only one sector, Information Technology, was down in mid-single digits. There was little economic news during the month and political developments, especially from the United States, dominated the news flow. Concerns about t

The UK equity market started the new year well with a gain in mid-single digits for January. All sectors had positive returns ranging from low single digits for Utilities to high single digits for Information Technology, Energy and Industrial. Although the macro-economic picture was not encouraging as forecasters pencilled in low economic growth for most regions apart from the US, there were helpful aspects. Interest rates are still predicted to decline modestly as inflation

UK equities delivered a strong return over the course of 2024, only just failing to deliver double digit gains. That said, December suffered negative performance in every sector bar two. The worst performing sector was Real Estate closely followed by Materials, Consumer Discretionary and Industrials. Financials and Not Classified were the only two to gain over the month. It is not hard to discern the perceived effect of interest rates on the relative performance between secto

UK equities delivered a small positive return in November with only three sectors showing falls; Health Care, Materials and Real Estate. The latter two also recording declines for the year to date along with Energy. Information Technology was the best with a double-digit gain over the month although lagging the gainers over the year. The fundamental outlook for shares listed in the UK provided a positive backdrop as the forecasts for dividends next year were modestly revised

October was another month when UK equities dropped slightly in capital terms as news flow was dominated by speculation about budgets and elections. In fundamental terms there was virtually no change in expectations of future dividend income to UK listed equities and that, in the long term, is what underlies returns. The small drop in UK equity valuations was a little surprising in view of the decline of sterling against the US dollar, which is normally a supportive factor. Bu

UK equities experienced a small decline in September, probably in large part due to the strengthening of sterling against the US dollar and the euro. Health Care and Energy were the two sectors most affected with falls close to double figures. On the other hand, Materials made a strong positive contribution, most likely responding to political measure taken in China to improve economic confidence. Other sectors did not experience any strong moves. Over the year to date the ma

August is typically a quiet month in capital markets. However, the slight positive return for UK equities in the month masks the large swings seen in some Asian and US markets that occurred on some days in the month. Commentators provided erudite explanations for the sharp moves after they happened, although fewer were made beforehand. In the UK the underlying corporate data was not much changed as there was little news flow, so attention was drawn to macro issues. There was

UK equities delivered a good performance in July with low single digit returns. The Consumer Discretionary and Staples sectors led the way as falling inflation returned some spending power to the public. Hopes that interest rates might start to come down also helped sentiment and encouraged people to indulge themselves. The prospect of lower interest rates was also presumably why investors favoured the Utility sector for its reliable income streams and made it the standout be