FTSE 100

Sell-off gives Watts 'another bite of the cherry'

Fund managers are backing miners as a key income play this year, predicting the largest names in the sector will ramp up their dividend payouts after a poor first quarter.

The pace of the economic recovery in the UK has taken economists by surprise in the last year, prompting a number of upwards revisions for GDP growth.

M&G's Tom Dobell has been upping his stake in the firm he described as formerly the "worst-run company" in the FTSE 100 in anticipation of a change of fortunes for the business.

FEATURE

The FTSE 100 has risen in early trading as news of a fresh Pfizer approach for AstraZeneca sparks a 15% jump in the UK group's share price.

Alan Custis and Alan Clifford have stuck with insurers amid early signs the sector is rebounding from the sharp falls sparked by Chancellor George Osborne's move to change the pensions landscape.

Vince Cable has attacked the salaries paid to the executives at the top of FTSE 100 companies and warned the government may intervene if boards do not rein in 'excessive' payouts.

While markets across Europe took a break over the long Easter holiday, Asian markets fluctuated between gains and losses, weighed down by expected weak Chinese manufacturing data to be released this week.

GlaxoSmithKline, the UK's largest pharmaceutical group, and rival AstraZeneca, saw shares jump sharply - with the latter up 10% - as a series of deals in the sector boosted prices.