US investors are facing the worst year for dividend cuts since 1938, Standard & Poor’s has forecast, as a growing tally of blue-chip companies across the globe slash pay-outs for investors.

HSBC and heavyweight US stocks PNC Financial and International Paper on Monday joined the list of companies that moved to save cash by cutting previously sacrosanct dividend pay-outs, confounding investors who had sought the refuge of high yields in the belief they signified the stock market was cheaply valued.