FTSE hits an all-time high

Pensions boost as market ‘gets its mojo back’ after Covid crash

THE London stock market soared to an all-time high yesterday as it continued its strong start to the year.

In a major boost for savers with pensions and other investments, the FTSE 100 index rose 81.64 points to end the week at 7901.80.

This is the highest ever close for the blue-chip benchmark, eclipsing the 7877 reached in 2018 and taking gains this year to 6 per cent.

It represents a remarkable bounce back for the Footsie, which crashed below the 5000 mark during the Covid crisis.

The milestone will be welcomed by households who have money tied up in the stock market and will serve as an antidote to the prevailing economic gloom.

Veteran City commentator David Buik said: ‘It has been resolute in recovering, fighting its way through the quagmire of hyper-inflation and the Ukraine crisis.’

Victoria Scholar, at Interactive Investor, said: ‘ Despite last year’s equity market volatility and a slowing global economy, the FTSE 100 is defying the doom and gloom.’

The Footsie is made up of the 100 largest companies with shares listed in London. Among them are a host of household names from oil giants BP and Shell to supermarkets Tesco and Sainsnot bury’s and pharmaceutical groups Glaxosmithkline and AstraZeneca.

Many of these companies have operations all over the world, meaning the index is an entirely reliable gauge of the health of the British economy. But millions of Britons have money tied up in these companies through pension funds.

The FTSE 250 index – which is made up of the next 250 biggest companies on the stock market – is more domestically focused.

It closed down 21 points at 20593 and remains some 15 per cent below last year’s peak around 24250. The FTSE 100 blue chip index has benefited from global factors, with official figures yesterday showing 517,000 jobs were created in the US last month – taking unemployment down to 3.4 per cent.

That was its lowest level since 1969.

The strong jobs market figures gave the dollar a boost – and in turn knocked the pound, which fell below $1.21.

The weaker pound benefits many companies in the Footsie that earn money overseas, such as in the US.

Susannah Streeter, at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘The bumper US jobs number, coming in well above estimates, gave the Footsie another spring in its step.’

She added: ‘The FTSE 100 has clearly got its mojo back.’