NEW YORK—Stock markets mostly rose on Friday, the first trading day of 2026, with London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index reaching 10,000 points for the first time.
After indices smashed records in 2025, ending with double-digit annual gains, London continued the trend in early new year deals.
The capital’s top-tier index — featuring the likes of energy group BP, telecoms firm Vodafone and banking giant HSBC — gained more than one percent to reach an all-time high of 10,046.25 points soon after the start of trading Friday.
It gave up much of its gains but still ended the day up 0.2 percent to set a fresh closing record.
“The FTSE 100 hit the 10,000 jackpot level immediately after rounding off a tremendous year for UK shares,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell trading group.
The index climbed more than 21 percent in 2025, the biggest rise for 16 years, helped in large part by cuts to British interest rates alongside reductions to borrowing costs by the US Federal Reserve as global inflation largely retreated.
