Investors 'seeing benefits of stocks and shares'

Many investors are turning to stocks and shares as a means of generating returns from their personal wealth.

This is according to new research from The Share Centre, which showed only one in ten of those questioned are planning to make cash-only investments during 2010.

One in five said they will be investing on both cash and stocks over the course of the year, while 40 per cent predicted the FTSE 100 will end the 12-month period on between 5,500 and 6,500 points.

And the stock market has also proved to be an ideal investment opportunity in the past few months, the findings showed, as 75 per cent of the 845 private investors questioned stated they felt it has given them good opportunities since September 2009.

However, the FTSE 100 has dipped this morning, led by falls in the mining sector.

According to Reuters, the index was down by over one per cent in mid-morning, with Kazakhmys and Fresnillo among the firms falling.ADNFCR-2318-ID-19681247-ADNFCR