“At the current rate, we could see the FTSE 100 break through the 8,000 level by early next week, which would represent a long-overdue victory for the UK stock market.”
The FTSE 100 index has smashed through three intraday records over the last week, starting last Friday and hitting new heights in Wednesday’s and Thursday’s sessions this week.
Almost unmentioned in the mainstream media, the London stock market just keeps on hitting new heights.
At the close on Thursday, the UK’s FTSE 100 finished at 7,911.15. This represents an increase of 29% since the UK voted to leave the European Union. On 24 June 2016 the FTSE 100 stood at only 6,138.69.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell said:
“At the current rate, we could see the FTSE 100 break through the 8,000 level by early next week, which would represent a long-overdue victory for the UK stock market.
He noted: “Renewed takeover chatter in the banking sector, a well-received set of results from AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) and another leg up from the energy sector,” had helped.
“Reports suggest First Abu Dhabi Bank is still interested in buying Standard Chartered, despite guidance to the contrary last month.”
“If successful, it would represent yet another UK stock acquired by a foreign player. It would also play to the theory that industry players are more likely to buy UK-listed companies than private equity in the current environment.”
“Whereas the sharp rise in the cost of debt has made life harder for private equity to do leveraged deals, a lot of businesses have come out of the pandemic in a robust financial shape and have plenty of cash on their books to buy rivals in their respective sectors.”
CMC’s Michael Hewson added:
“It’s been another positive day for the FTSE100 and another record high, with the 8,000-level continuing to act as a magnet for investor sentiment, and a market that seems to just want to go higher.
“We have seen the early morning momentum fade in a similar fashion to yesterday’s price action, which does suggest an element of caution, but we are still putting in higher lows.”
