City of London trust's Curtis: I am more confident about UK dividends than I have been for a long time

Janus Henderson's Job Curtis, manager of the £1.4bn City of London investment trust, said he is starting to feel positive about equity markets and in turn, dividend cover, as growth begins to pick up and the global economy moves "out of the hospital ward".

He is particularly confident about the UK market as sterling has started to stabilise after a volatile 15 months following the EU referendum and as dividends from a number of large-cap names are looking more secure. The manager said: "The UK has a very good dividend market. I am more confident about the UK stocks in the portfolio than I have been for a long time in terms of the dividends. I can see mid-to-high single digit dividend growth going forward. "We have seen some of the miners and names such as Lloyds restoring their dividends, while firms such as HSBC are looking more secure...