It’s over: FTSE 100 finishes down 15 per cent on start of the year
The FTSE 100 ended 2020 appropriately, sliding on the last day of trading and finishing 15 per cent down on the year.
The market was on half-day duty today with traders able to celebrate New Year a little earlier.
Optimism which powered gains earlier this week has dissipated, with dispiriting news on vaccines rollout in the UK and the US giving traders a headache.
The index finished the day down 1.45 per cent.
A strong pound has also hit sentiment in the internationally-oriented FTSE 100.
It has been a miserable year for the FTSE and indeed the wider economy. It is the worst since 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis.
Traders will also be assessing just how ‘frictionless’ the UK’s move to a new relationship with the European Union will actually be.
Read more: Could 2021 be the FTSE 100’s year?