Rolling coverage of the final trading day of the year, as Britain’s blue-chip index ends 2015 in the red * Latest: Not a good year for the FTSE * How London lagged behind other markets this year * North Sea evacuations * Rouble slides against the US dollar, again * A bad year for commodities 2.00pm GMT Despite finishing the year in the red, the FTSE 100 did hit some new highs in 2015. The Press Association has the details: February 24 saw the London market break a record that had stood for more than 15 years as the FTSE 100 hit a new all-time high, boosted by investor optimism about the financial crisis in Greece. Britain’s benchmark index of leading shares closed at 6958.89, which meant the FTSE 100 finally surpassed its previous intraday peak of 6950.6 set on December 30 1999, just before the dotcom bubble burst. 1.50pm GMT Joshua Mahoney of IG suggests that the London stock market will be driven by speculation over UK interest rate rises next year: 2015 has seen the FTSE moving in an inverse manner with inflation, with falling inflation in early 2015 treated with glee by investors, yet as disinflation fears were allayed in H2, we have seen the FTSE pull back in anticipation of a more hawkish BoE stance. Given that disinflation fears have been driven largely by the fall in oil prices, there is reason to believe that 2016 will also see sentiment largely driven by the movement of oil prices, their impact upon inflation expectations and the subsequent monetary policy stance from the BoE. Continue reading...
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