The FTSE 100 reached an all time high on Tuesday, as Dixons Carphone and Coca-Cola led the way for retailers, with respective growths of 19p and 45p. The record results meant were Britain‘s highest end of day valuations since since December 1999, when the final trading day of the year reached 6,930.2.
The news comes despite economic problems in Greece and China. The failure of talks between Greece and Eurogroup on Monday, alongside China‘s stockmarket plummeting 8% overnight, seemed to only push Britain‘s leader board, ending the day 35.3 points higher.
Arguably the success of Christmas sales, including retail phenomenon Black Friday, increased financially stable stocks on the blue-chip leader board, as the blue-chip index ended Tuesday evening on its second highest close, at 6,898.13, an increase of 41.08 points or 0.6%. The mid-cap FTSE 250 also ended fruitfully, with an increase of 2% for the domestic economy.
Tuesday marked a double celebration for recovering grocer Tesco, with the announcement of its new Chairman John Allan, tying in with the supermarket chain‘s improvements on the stock exchange. Tesco was up by 2%, no surprise as Allan had only just announced his resignations from the board at Dixons Carphone, one of the respective FTSE 100 success stories. “I‘m very pleased to be taking on this role at such a critical moment for the business and look forward to working with the new executive team and the board,” Allan stated.
The FTSE results coincide with news that inflation has fallen to a new low of 0.3%, something TUC General Secretary Frances O‘Grady warns is a sign of, “fragility in the UK and global economy”. This corresponds with growing consumer confidence, as spending is reaching new heights, after records of a five month splurging high in January. Though retailers should tread with caution, the headline index is set to open stronger this morning, paving the way for the FTSE 100 to achieve the 32 points it needs to equal the grand heights it attained in 1999.
