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FTSE 100 Marks 30th Anniversary With Record 7,000 High Forecast

FTSE 100 Set For New High As It Marks 30th Birthday
Asa Bennett
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UNITED KINGDOM - MARCH 03: A stockbroker talks on the telephone while working on his computer at Shore Capital Markets in London, U.K., on Tuesday, March 3, 2009. U.K. stocks retreated for a third day, sending the benchmark FTSE 100 Index to its lowest since 2003, amid concern banks may have to raise more capital. (Photo by Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Bloomberg via Getty Images

Britain's leading share index, the FTSE 100, marks its 30th anniversary today as forecasts suggest it will soar to record highs this year and smash through the 7,000 point barrier.

This would mark a milestone for the stock market index, which was set up on January 3 1984 at the base level of 1,000 index points. It is now one of the most widely used stock indices and a gauge of business prosperity.

Earlier this week, the index notched up its biggest annual climb since then, ending 2013 at 6749.1 points, 14% up on the end of 2012.

Here's what you need to know about the 30-year old FTSE100 and what it has been through.

FTSE 100: a history
The FTSE 100 has been through a lot in 30 years(01 of06)
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From the Big Bang of stock market deregulation, the FTSE 100 has survived the turmoil caused by the miners' strike in the 80s, the Black Monday Crash of 1987, the dotcom boom of 1999 and the financial crisis.
Just a third of the original FTSE 100 members survive(02 of06)
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Quite a few original members of the FTSE 100 companies have dropped out, broken up or been gobbled up by some other firm.Just 30 of the original 100 remain. Only 19 of them remaining in the index continually for the entire three-decade period, like oil giant BP, retailer Marks & Spencer and insurer Prudential.Meanwhile, big firms like Imperial Chemical Industries and Scottish & Newcastle breweries are no longer part of the club - with newbies including BT and Royal Mail.
My, how the FTSE 100 firms have grown(03 of06)
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The combined value of the 100 biggest performers on the stock market index stands at £1.87 trillion, more than 10 times higher than the market capitalisation total of £164 billion in December 1985, when records first began.
The FTSE 100 grew at its fastest in 2008(04 of06)
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After the 2008 crash, the FTSE 100 posted its biggest one-day rise, of 9.8%, on November 24 2008 as the index started to bounce back from a stock market low point.
The FTSE 100 fell by far more in 1987(05 of06)
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The FTSE 100 suffered its steepest fall on October 20 1987, when it fell 12.2% after a wave of panic selling spread across the Atlantic from Wall Street - in what became known as Black Monday.
The FTSE 100 once hit a record 6,930.2 (06 of06)
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To be fair, this was at the height of the dot-com boom.But in 2014, analysts expect the FTSE 100 to keep soaring and surpass its dot-com peak, finally passing the 7,000 mark.
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