Discover investment opportunities in the UK market with FTSE 100 index futures trading. Explore ETFs, stocks, and funds on the best trading platform broker.
One of the best-known market indicators for investing in British companies was developed in 1984 as a result of a collaboration between the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Times of London.
The FTSE 100, an index that measures the performance of the British stock market, is managed by a newly formed company, the FTSE Group (Financial Times and Stock Exchange Group).
You'll learn about how the FTSE 100 Index works, current FTSE 100 companies and a FTSE 100 trading technique you can use right now in this article.
The 100 largest companies by market capitalization listed on the London Stock Exchange make up the FTSE 100 Index, sometimes called the Footsie (LSE). The FTSE Group manages the index and during LSE trading hours, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. UK time, prices are updated every 15 seconds.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones 30 indices on the U.S. stock exchange are comparable to the FTSE 100 index in the U.K. The total market value of the companies that make up the index is used to determine its price. When the index rises, it means that more companies are gaining value - but not necessarily all.
With Plus500, you can build an income-generating portfolio by investing in UK companies that are part of the FTSE 100 Index and earning dividends. ETFs (exchange traded funds) that track the performance of the FTSE 100 index are another investment option.
You can also trade CFDs (Contracts for Difference) on the FTSE 100 Index and UK stocks using this broker. Through the use of leverage, this product allows you to trade long and short and possibly take advantage of rising and falling markets.
Trade CFDs on the FTSE 100 index and over 200 of the UK's leading companies. Over 4,000 different products are available for CFD trading, including stocks, currencies, commodities and global stock market indices.
With Plus500, you can use a variety of free premium analytical tools to trade and invest on the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms for desktop, online and mobile.
Since the FTSE100 was introduced in 1984, the list of companies that make up the FTSE100 has changed due to growth and decline in market capitalization, mergers and acquisitions, and other factors. Many people also believe that all companies in the index must be British, when this is not true - it is sufficient that the company is listed on the London Stock Exchange. In reality, many companies are internationally based and derive the majority of their revenues from abroad.
Investors around the world are familiar with several companies, such as HSBC, Barclays, BP, GlaxoSmithKline, etc. Compass Group, a company that specializes in food services only in the UK and Ireland, may not be as well known to investors outside the UK.
So which companies make up the FTSE 100? Shell, AstraZeneca, HSBC, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, Diageo, BP, British American Tobacco, Rio Tinto and Glencore are now among the top ten companies in the FTSE 100 by market capitalization. The full list is available on the FTSE 100 webpage on the London Stock Exchange website.
The FTSE 100 index represents the top 100 companies listed on the UK stock exchange and is a popular method of understanding the UK stock market and tracking the state of the UK economy.
Dividing the market capitalization of all stocks listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) by 100 gives the FTSE 100. The index includes the top 100 companies by market capitalization. Higher weighted stocks have a greater impact on the price of the FTSE 100 than lower weighted stocks. Companies with a larger market capitalization will have a higher weight in the index.
The FTSE 100 is traded from 4pm to 12am (UTC +8) 5 days a week.
CFDs, a type of financial derivative that mirrors the underlying market price of the FTSE 100 index, can be used to trade the index. Using Plus500 CFDs, you can take a long position and bet on the price of the FTSE 100 going up or a short position and bet on the price going down.
Ensure you have a solid understanding of trading concepts and consider using a demo account to practice.
To be included in the FTSE 100, a company must be listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and rank among the top 100 in market capitalization.