Thursday is ex-dividend day in London and this week there was a heavyweight billing that knocked the FTSE 100 sideways, including companies such as AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN), NatWest Group PLC (LSE:NWG) and Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.).
There were 18.3 points collectively shaved off the index as a result of 12 blue-chips going ex-dividend on the day, when investors who purchase shares today are no longer entitled to their latest dividend payouts.
The full list was led by AstraZeneca, whose whopping 76.7p dividend resulted in a 4.95 points index adjustment, followed in order of adjustment by Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (LSE:RKT, ETR:3RB) (84.4p dividend, -2.38 points), Barclays PLC (LSE:BARC) (3p, -1.73 points), NatWest Group (9.5p, -1.68 points), BT Group PLC (LSE:BT.A) (5.76p, -1.67 points), Rolls-Royce (4.5p, -1.56 points), RELX PLC (LSE:REL) (19.5p, -1.49 points), Ashtead Group PLC (LSE:AHT) ($0.72, -0.93 points), Standard Chartered PLC (LSE:STAN) ($0.123, -0.89 points), SEGRO PLC (LSE:SGRO)(9.7p, -0.55 points), Informa PLC (LSE:INF) (7p, -0.38 points), and St James's Place PLC (LSE:STJ) (6p, -0.13 points), according to the DividendData website.
For London-listed companies, Thursday is conventionally the ex-div day as most companies set their record date on a Friday.
Under the T+2 rule (trade date plus two business days, the standard settlement cycle for most stock markets, including the UK, US, and EU), this means if you buy the shares two days earlier, ie Wednesday, you get the dividend.
In the US, the same T+2 rule applies, and Thursday is usually the one, but ex-dividend dates can fall on any weekday, depending on when the company sets its record date, with some using Wednesdays or Mondays as record dates, shifting the ex-div to Tuesdays or Fridays.