FTSE 100 points

[Andy008]

When in the news they talk about "5 points were wiped off the FTSE 100 index", I know that they are referring to economic value, rather than real money, but how much exactly constitutes a "point"?

[Sequin]

FTSE 100 is an index based on the share price of the top 100 companies on the stock market. The price of each will rise and fall depending on the day's events, and the Footsie reflects the overall changes, rather than individual changes

[stevie21]

Agreed, if you buy one share in each of the top companies (which comprise the FTSE 100) then you have a total share price, in pence.
If this goes down by 5p then "5 points are wiped off the FTSE index".

[GuavaHalf]

Is it really one share of each? I thought there was some sort of weighting to take account of the size of the companies.

[GuavaHalf]

Answering my own question... yes is weighted. The follwoing is copied from the moneyextra website:

"The most widely-quoted and 'popular' index for tracking the London stockmarket. For the latest index figure, click here. The FTSE 100 contains the shares of the top 100 U.K. companies ranked by market capitalisation. It's jointly sponsored by the Financial Times, the London Stock Exchange, and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and marketed by a company called 'FT SE International'.

The 'FTSE' is a market capitalisation-weighted index, re-weighted every day. During the day, it is calculated every minute.

Shares enter and leave the index every quarter. Additions and deletions are performed strictly in accordance with a set of rules supervised by the FT-SE Actuaries Share Indices Steering Committee, and independent body.

FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 share prices and world indices can be found in our Stockmarket section. Our Daily Business Report keeps an eye on the main business news stories - upated by 1730 each weekday. "

[stevie21]

Obviously I knew that all along <cough>
I was just trying to, er, simplify things to help a fellow AB'er.



Convinced?