FTSE 100 Index

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FTSE 100
Performance of the FTSE 100 index between January 1984 and June 2024
Foundation3 January 1984
OperatorFTSE Russell
ExchangesLondon Stock Exchange
Trading symbol
  • UKX
Constituents100 (June 2024)
TypeLarge-cap
Market cap£2.022 trillion (June 2024)
Weighting methodCapitalisation-weighted
Related indices
Websiteofficial website
Reuters.FTSE
BloombergUKX:IND

The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" /ˈfʊtsi/, is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most highly capitalised blue chips listed on the London Stock Exchange.[1]

Founded in 1984 by Stock Exchange to better reflect activity on the market, it replaced the Financial Times' own FT 30.[2] A new index allowed Stock Exchange to launch the options contract derived from the FTSE's real-time data, while competitors LIFFE launched the futures contract.[3][4] By 1986, Margaret Thatcher's sweeping financial deregulation and high profile privatisations of index members British Telecom, British Gas, and British Aerospace had culminated in the Big Bang.[5] The combination of a new index, major privatisations, LIFFE tradable derivatives, and promotion by the Financial Times led to the FTSE 100 becoming the most widely used indicator of whether the UK stock market was rising or falling.[6] In 1987, privatisations continued with British Airways and British Petroleum. The latter concluded on the same day as Black Monday, a crash in which the index fell 21.73% in two days; one of those days is still the index's worst single-day return, –12.22%.[7]

The index consists of 32 sectors, four of which had a market capitalisation exceeding £200 billion as of 28 June 2024. These are pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, metals and mining and banking services, which together account for approximately 46% of the index's capitalisation.[8] On the same date, there were four companies with a market cap exceeding £100 billion: Shell, AstraZeneca, HSBC and Unilever, which together accounted for approximately 30% of the market cap.[8]

Each calendar quarter, the FTSE's constituents are reviewed and some companies exit or enter the index, resulting in irregular trading volume and price changes as market participants rebalance their portfolios.[9]

  1. ^ "FTSE UK Index Series". LSEG. FTSE Russell. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  2. ^ Michie 1999, pp. 573
  3. ^ Scott, Gordon. "LIFFE". investopedia. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  4. ^ Kynaston 1997, pp. 131
  5. ^ "FTSE 100 index turns forty" (PDF). FTSE Russell. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  6. ^ Michie 1999, pp. 574
  7. ^ "FTSE 100 index turns forty" (PDF). FTSE Russell. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  8. ^ a b "FTSE constituents". London Stock Exchange. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference overview was invoked but never defined (see the help page).