LONDON — Britain's benchmark share index, the FTSE 100, hit another record high on Friday morning, coming close to breaking the 7,600 point mark for the first time in its history.
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The FTSE 100 briefly hit another all-time high
'Shares are rising as part of a global cyclical turnaround and sterling weakness is increasingly less important,' Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX.
In the first hour of trade, the FTSE hit 7,595 points, passing the previous intraday record of 7,587 points, set earlier this week. By the close, the FTSE was still higher, but only marginally, closing 0.04% higher at 7,546 points to miss an all-time closing high by only one point.
Here is the chart:
A new all-time record comes on the same day that the latest IHS Markit and CIPS' latest PMI release for the construction sector — which measures expectations of growth — came in well above expectations. The survey showed a reading of 56 in May.
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That was up from a reading of 53.1 in April, and even further above the 52.7 forecast by economists prior to the release. The PMI release had little material impact on the index.
"Shares are rising as part of a global cyclical turnaround and sterling weakness is increasingly less important," Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital said in an emailed statement.
"The pound is still an important factor in the UK market in terms of overall valuations but after the correlation broke down after the referendum, there are signs it’s coming back, with the FTSE no longer simply reacting to cable; going up with the pound falls and dropping when the pound rises."
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