In July the FTSE 100 rallied to a record-equalling 11-day run of gains, a feat last achieved in January 2004, and in August the index continued to climb, closing at 4896.23 on 24 August 2009. But will these green shoots blossom in September, or have they already begun to wilt?
The FTSE's record run towards the end of July was inspired by better-than-expected corporate earnings, as positive results from heavyweights such as BT Group, Kazakhmys and Barclays led the charge toward 4700. But the index has never before managed 12 consecutive days of gains, and this latest run was also halted after 11 days following worse-than-expected GDP data.
By early August, however, the blue-chip index was up again to what was then a year's high of 4755, before a wobble on Wall Street arrested ambitions of breaking the 4800 barrier. This was due in part to investors’ concerns that the perceived recovery was still rather artificial, and possibly not sustainable without further government intervention.
The FTSE showed healthy resilience, though, and rebounded to break 4850 after upbeat developments in the UK’s banking and mining sectors, and positive anti-recessionary news out of Europe. For the first time in 11 months, is 5000 a possibility?
Take a position on global stock indices
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Updated: 24/08/09
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