Vodafone Group PLC (LSE:VOD) and J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY) led the FTSE 100 fallers on Thursday after their shares went ex-dividend.
The index was hit by a 3.5-point drag from five companies' shares trading ex-div.
The largest impact came from Vodafone, which traded without entitlement to a dividend of €0.023625 per share and accounted for 1.79 points of the index adjustment.
Sainsbury's was the second-largest contributor, with its 9.6p dividend resulting in a 0.83-point adjustment.
Also trading ex-dividend were LondonMetric Property PLC (LSE:LMP), with a 3.3p payout and a 0.31-point impact; Sage Group PLC (LSE:SGE), whose 8.05p dividend also reduced the index by 0.31 points; and Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LSE:MKS), which went ex-dividend for a 3p payment, creating a 0.26-point adjustment.
When a stock trades ex-dividend, new buyers are no longer entitled to receive the upcoming payout. Share prices typically adjust lower by an amount reflecting the dividend, which in turn creates a mechanical effect on price-weighted indices.
The combined 3.49-point adjustment is modest relative to daily FTSE 100 moves, though it can influence the opening performance of the index.
