About our FTSE 100 news
Latest news on the FTSE 100, also known as the Footsie, Britain's blue-chip stock index and a key gauge of the stock market, covering shares in the UK's largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, dividends, company results, market reports and analysis.
The FTSE 100 tracks the 100 largest companies on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) by market capitalisation. Its members span banking, energy, mining, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, retail, insurance and defence. Household names include Shell, BP, HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, AstraZeneca, GSK, Unilever, Diageo, Tesco, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, Vodafone and National Grid. Miners such as Rio Tinto and Glencore sit alongside them.
Because many members earn most of their revenue overseas, the index often reacts to global commodity prices, currency moves and interest rate decisions as much as to UK news. Analysts watch company results, profit warnings, takeover bids, buybacks and dividend payments. Debate continues over how well the index reflects the wider UK economy, and how it compares with the FTSE 250 of mid-sized firms.
The index matters to ordinary savers. Pension funds, tracker funds and investment trusts hold FTSE 100 shares, so its fortunes affect millions of households. Dividend income from its constituents is a major part of what UK investors receive each year. Firms value a place in the index for the visibility and investment it brings.
The FTSE 100 was launched on 3 January 1984 with a base level of 1,000 points. It has charted Britain's shift from an industrial to a services economy, and it has lived through Black Monday in 1987, the dotcom bust, the 2008 financial crisis and Brexit. FTSE Russell, part of London Stock Exchange Group, reviews membership every quarter, so companies can rise into the index or drop out.
Our ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ feed gathers the latest FTSE 100 and Footsie headlines in one place, from company announcements and share moves to dividends, results, quarterly reviews and expert market commentary on London stocks. Follow the blue-chip index and the firms inside it as stories break.