Britain’s shares rocket to new record high — defying Brexit doom-mongers who predicted UK economy to crash
The FTSE 100 soared above the 7,600 mark for the first time last Thursday and has now surged again to close at 7,620.68
SHARES soared to a new high yesterday to defy Brexit doom-mongers.
The FTSE 100 rocketed to 7632.7 at one stage before closing at 7,620.7 — up 28 points on the day.
It is the second time in a week the index of blue-chip firms has reached a record mark.
The market’s bullish run is tipped to continue thanks to New Year trade talks with Brussels.
A leading think tank said the City has increased its lead as the world’s financial centre despite previous fears of a Brexodus of financiers.
Our economy is now tipped to overtake France’s by 2020.
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde last week said it had cut its outlook for UK growth following the June 2016 referendum.
Think tank the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) had also claimed the economy would slow due to a drop in spending and investment. But it admitted last night: “In practice this has not happened.”
CEBR experts also said their fears of Brexit leaving the UK economy behind France’s for five years were exaggerated.
The FTSE’s rally leaves it nearly 500 points higher than at the end of 2016. It has been boosted by a pre-Christmas rise in spending, plus bargain hunting before stock prices rise next month.
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Chris Beauchamp, of IG Group, said: “We expect the bull run to continue against a stable economic backdrop and strong earnings growth.”
The weaker, post-Brexit Pound has boosted the FTSE’s many multi-national firms which report in US dollars.
Sterling ended the day up 0.2 per cent against the dollar at 1.34.