By Lucy Raitano
LONDON (Reuters) – London’s FTSE-100 hit a record high on Tuesday, raising hopes that Britain’s stock market might finally be shaking off years of underperformance as investors look for bargains and UK growth picks up.
Months after rival indexes across the world started chalking up records, Britain’s benchmark stock index touched a new peak of 8,076.52, surpassing its previous high from February 2023.
The new peak brings this year’s gains for the FTSE 100 to 4% – still behind the 6% rise in the pan-European STOXX 600, as well as France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX, which are up 7.5% and 7.8% respectively.
The FTSE-100 has long underperformed – whether because of the uncertainty surrounding Britain’s economy since its 2016 vote to leave the European Union or because of its perceived shortcomings compared with rival indexes.
Heavily weighted towards basic resources stocks, the FTSE-100 has not benefited from the AI-mania that has lifted U.S. markets, nor from the surge in luxury stocks. Nor could it tap in to the boom in anti-obesity drugs that has made Denmark’s Novo…
