FTSE 100 drops below 8,000 but index remains nears all-time high
The FTSE 100 fell back from the 8,000 mark but remained in the green as the index inched closer and closer to its all-time high.
The capital’s premier index was up 0.26 per cent at 7,973.13 around 11:30am. It briefly reached as high as 8,014 this morning, above its highest closing price of 8,012.53 recorded last February.
The FTSE 100’s record intraday price is 8,047.06 set on 16 February last year.
Today, the FTSE 100 was lifted by a strong performance from miners and oil majors who benefited from higher commodity prices.
Fresnillo was up as far as 6.8 per cent while BP, Shell, Glencore and Anglo American all gained between two and three per cent.
At the beginning of the year, investors were nearly certain that the Fed would start cutting interest rates in March, with as many as six rate cuts pencilled in for the year.
Similarly, the Bank of England was expected to cut interest rates five times, as inflation had been much lower than expected.
In March, the bull run was given fresh impetus after the Fed’s latest forecasts showed three rate cuts were still anticipated despite the fact that inflation and growth were expected to be higher.
The Bank of England’s most recent rate decision was also seen as dovish after the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) two hawkish outliers voted to hold interest rates rather than hike.
Markets are coalescing around the view that June is the most likely month for the global cutting cycle to begin.