Keep calm and carry on: London's FTSE 100 shows stoic approach has worked

For those who have managed to maintain enough enthusiasm to look beyond all of the doom and gloom which the world's media channels appear to revel in propagating, there has been some positive movements in the British economy over the past few days.

Behind all of the widespread reports of inflation, increasing energy costs and the general feeling that the Pound does not go anywhere near as far as it once did, there is some degree of comfort, and it is coming from the stock markets.

The FTSE 100 index, which is a collection of stocks of publicly listed giants which are regarded as the most prestigious on the UK market, has been performing very well.

As the bell sounded in the heart of the financial district in Britain's capital this morning, signaling another exciting week at the London Stock Exchange, the FTSE 100 began the day by increasing by 11.42 points to 7,512.31.

Whilst the Bank of England appears to be intent on maintaining its aggressive interest rate stance in the face of persistent inflation in the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 index arrived at a 5-day high point by 9.00am today.

In fact, this morning's sudden upturn in fortune for the FTSE 100 represented the third highest point in six months, with trips over the 7,600 mark having taken place in April and June.

By 10.00am, the FTSE 100 had settled down to around 7,511 however that is still a high point for the prestigious index, despite a slight downward movement following this morning's spike at 9,00am and the index is still 11.5 points higher than its Friday afternoon close, and is 29 points up over the five-day moving average.

Oddly, despite inflation and a reducing purchasing power among consumers being a major consideration for almost every citizen of the United Kingdom (and many other western countries!) right now, investors have reacted positively to CPI and PPI data released this week that suggested inflation may have already peaked.

Conversely, confidence in the US market has taken a drop due to some vague allusion to possible geopolitical tensions between China and the United States as American lawmakers arrive for a trip to Taiwan, and Chinese economic data having revealed the ongoing impact of Covid-19 lockdowns and an escalating property crisis.

Evergrande, after all, is one of those rare insights into the potential over commitment by Chinese property giants that has been viewed from outside China; most of the time, it is impossible to gain any data on Chinese companies from outside the country.

Britain has been doing well by comparison, especially within the large corporations, and those are the corporations whose stock is listed in the FTSE 100 index.

The fabled stiff upper lip approach, and 'keep calm and carry on' culture has paid dividends... literally.

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