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FTSE 100 Live: Natwest bumper dividend, stocks tick up

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Welcome to the Morning Wire FTSE 100 liveblog.

Good morning and welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog.

The City was left stunned yesterday after Schroders entered into a surprise £10bn deal with Nuveen, which holds $1.4tn in assets, after speculation of a sale was rebuffed in July.

Schroders Group chief Richard Oldfield had previously squashed rumours that the Schroder family, who control almost half of the company’s shares, were eyeing a sale of one of the oldest financial institutions in London.

Under the terms of the newly announced agreement, which will bring to an end nearly two centuries of independence, Schroders’ shareholders will receive 612 pence per share, including a cash consideration of 590 pence and a dividend of 22 pence per share.

Over the last few years, a number of listed UK companies have been snapped up by US asset managers, who are “sniffing out untapped potential.” 

It comes after analysts had been advocating for the potential of London listed financial services firms, deeming them a powerhouse, as they are known for supplying steady, long term dividends, deep capital pools and global connections.

Meanwhile, we had a dosage of less exciting news with fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing the economy expanded a sluggish 0.1 per cent in three months to December 2025.

This came as the services sector, which is often viewed as the engine of the economy due to its hefty contribution of over 80 per cent to GDP, had no growth in the period.

Economists were quick to heap criticism on the government’s growth agenda – or lack there of.

Andrew Sentance, a former policymaker at the Bank of England, said the UK was on pace for “the most dismal decade for growth in 100 years”.

Here’s a few of our top stories from yesterday: