The UK’s top stock market index has reached a new all-time highest closing price, amid ongoing hopes of economic conditions and geopolitical tensions improving.
The FTSE 100 closed up 1.62% at 8,023.87 points at the end of trading on Monday to mark the new record.
It surpassed its previous highest closing price of 8,012.53 from February 2023, although it fell short of its all-time intraday high of 8,047.06.
The blue-chip index jumped 128.02 points by Monday afternoon, with retailers Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Ocado among the biggest risers of the day.
Investor sentiment was lifted on continued hopes that tensions in the Middle East will ease, which helped oil prices retreat.
Rachel Winter, partner at Killik & Co, said the strong performance by the FTSE 100 was” largely due to the weakness of sterling versus the dollar”.
She added: “The FTSE contains a large number of big international companies that earn their revenue in dollars and report their profits in sterling.
“When the dollar strengthens, these companies become more profitable in sterling terms.
“The strength of the dollar is due to sticky inflation in the US, which means that US interest rates will remain higher for longer.”
The pound was down 0.2% at 1.234 dollars as result, representing sterling’s lowest point against the US currency for around five months.