The UK_100 chart (Financial Times Stock Exchange), known better as the Footsie, is possibly the most popular and widely traded index on the stock market in the world today. How? This index represents 80% of the market capitalization within the London Stock Exchange (LSE). With a Joint venture the LSE a co-owner along with the Financial Times, and the UK100 is the only index not part of any Stock exchange. The UK100 100 is a share index of 100 companies listed on the LSE, weighted by market capitalization, and is managed by the UK100 group, as markets open this index is updated and published every 15 seconds.The indication of how prosperous United Kingdom’s top companies are, is led by the UK100 index, however a portion of the UK100 is also made up of other global companies, and it is a mistake to use it as the only indicator of the state of the UK’s economy.
The index entered the market on the 3rd of January 1984 at a base level of 1000 points. During the dot-com bubble, in 2000 the index saw levels reaching 7,103.98. There after the index saw a fall during the financial crisis of 2007-2010 to low levels that were below 3,500. Seven years later in March of 2017 the highest intra-day value reached and recorded was 7,777.62.
The companies that make up the UK_100 are determined quarterly, and formulated on the basis on their values that are taken after the close of business the night before. Should companies not make a certain grade they will be excluded and replaced with a new constituent that has made the grade.
| Company | Index weighting (%) |
|---|---|
| HSBC Holdings | 7.3% |
| Royal Dutch Shell A | 5.43% |
| BP | 5.3% |
| Royal Dutch Shell B | 4.89% |
| British American Tobacco | 4.77% |
| GlaxoSmithKline | 4.21% |
| Diageo | 2.94% |
| Vodafone Group | 2.94% |
| Reckitt Benckiser Group | 2.4% |
| Shire | 2.34% |
Even though most of the composites are UK based; news, political, economic shifts etc. that occur in Europe will have a consequence on the index. Most announcements from the UK that do affect the UK_100 are events such as: Interest rate announcements, GDP statistics, UK manufacturing numbers and inflation rates that have all to do with The United Kingdom.
While components of the Footsie may be made up of British companies (as mentioned) a lot of the UK100’s revenue is generated from outside of the UK, such as the example of most economies like to publish their figures in USD ($) instead of the GBP (£). Furthermore, the UK100 has 5 oil trading companies that are listed (BP, BG Group, Royal Dutch Shell, Petrofac and Tullow Oil), and their share values are mostly influenced by events that take place in the middle east. While, 13 of the world’s most popular mining industries are influenced by global events. Changes in the price of the top commodity trading are influenced by all of the markets and the world’s events and this is important to keep in mind when embarking on trading the UK100.
A careful analysis and accurate charting is necessary when trading the Footsie. AvaTrade offer all traders, novice and professional, the advantage of up-to-the-minute live feeds and important market information. Take advantage of our customer service when markets are stable or volatile.
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