FLGB - The FTSE 100's Record Highs: Bubble Or New Bull Market?

2024-05-09 11:30:00 ET

Summary

• Having begun the year at just over 7,700, the index has staged a dramatic advance into new territory, breaching the mythical 8,000 barrier in mid-April.
• With the index at an all-time high of 8,354, the FTSE 100 CAPE ratio is 15.6 compared to a 37-year average of 17.5.
• If the FTSE 100 starts going up just because AstraZeneca, Shell and a handful of its largest global companies have been going up, that might be enough to remove, or at least reduce, the stigma around investing in the UK.

Somewhat out of the blue, the FTSE 100 has started to set new all-time highs.

Having begun the year at just over 7,700, the index has staged a dramatic advance into new territory, breaching the mythical 8,000 barrier in mid-April. By the end of April, it had already exceeded 8,100, and although we’re not even halfway through May, the FTSE 100 has wasted no time in rocketing past 8,200 and 8,300. As I write, it’s heading towards another record high at 8,400, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

For many investors, this string of record highs is surprising because they think the FTSE 100 (UKX) is the Jurassic Park of stock markets, full of old dinosaurs just waiting to be wiped out by the next economic asteroid....

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