FTSE 100 Hits Record High With Pound Weakness Boosting Exporters
- UK index benefits from international exposure of its members
- HSBC, Shell, Rolls-Royce drive most of the gains in past year
London’s FTSE 100 hit a record high Friday, as international exposure in the equity index shielded it from much of the turmoil that has weakened the pound, gilts and domestic stocks.
The benchmark closed at 8,505.22 points, surpassing its previous closing record of 8,445.80 hit in May. The index, which also hit an intraday high of 8,533.43, has rallied more than 4% in local currency terms so far in January, although it has still underperformed other European benchmarks like the blue-chip Euro Stoxx 50.