FTSE 100 Index

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The FTSE 100 Index (pronounced footsie) is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalized companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, begun on January 3, 1984. The index was developed with a base level of 1000 on that date. Component companies must meet a number of requirements set out by the FTSE Group, including having a full listing on the London Stock Exchange with a Sterling or Euro dominated price on SETS, and meeting certain tests on nationality, free float, and liquidity. Trading lasts from 0800-1629 (when the closing auction starts), and closing values are taken at 1635. The highest value of the index to date was 6950.6, set on December 30, 1999.

The index is seen as a barometer of success of the British economy and is the leading share index in Europe. It is maintained by the FTSE Group, a now independent company which originated as a joint venture between the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange (hence the abbreviation Financial Times Stock Exchange). According to the FTSE Group's website the FTSE 100 companies represent about 80% of the UK share market.

Related indices are the FTSE 250 Index (which lists the next largest 250 companies), FTSE SmallCap, FTSE Fledgling, the FTSE 350 Index (which is the aggregation of the FTSE 100 and 250), and the FTSE All-Share Index (which aggregates the FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and FTSE SmallCap).

The constituents of the index are determined quarterly; the largest companies in the FTSE 250 Index are promoted if their market capitalisation would place them in the top 90 firms of the FTSE 100 Index. As of 2006, the threshold for inclusion is about 2.9 billion pounds [1]. As of 31 December 2005 the 6 largest constituents of the index were BP, Royal Dutch Shell, HSBC Holdings, the Vodafone Group, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group and GlaxoSmithKline, which were each valued at more than £50 billion.

Most of the companies listed on this index usually include the abbreviation plc at the end of their name, indicating their status of public limited company.

1 List of FTSE 100 companies
2 Market capitalisation
3 FT 30
4 Notes
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] List of FTSE 100 companies

This Reflects the Demerger of GUS on 11 October 2006. GUS was replaced on the list by Experian. PartyGaming was moved to the FTSE 250. Home Retail (formerly part of GUS) was added. [2]

There are 100 companies in the index, but a total of 101 listings as two classes of shares are included for Royal Dutch Shell.

[edit] Market capitalisation

The following table lists the 31 FTSE 100 companies which had a market capitalisation of £10 billion or more on 31 December 2005. At that date £10 billion was equivalent to $17.079 billion.

[edit] FT 30

The oldest continuous index in the UK is the now largely redundant FT30 which began on July 1st 1935. Of the original constituents three are currently in the FTSE 100: Imperial Chemical (now ICI), Imperial Tobacco and Rolls Royce, although Rolls Royce has not been continuously listed. A further five are still listed but not in the FTSE 100: EMI, The General Electric Company (now Telent), Guest Keen & Nettlefolds (GKN), Tate & Lyle and Woolworths, although Woolworths has also not been continuously listed. Four of the original FT30 companies are still in that index remain in the FT30: EMI, GKN, Imperial Chemical and Tate & Lyle (membership is not strictly based on market capitalisation, so this does not mean they are necessarily among the top 30 companies in the FTSE 100). The best performer from the original line-up has been Imperial Tobacco.^[4]

[edit] Notes

^ : Rio Tinto Group is a dual listed company. The figure shown represents only the majority stake owned by Rio Tinto Plc.
^ : BHP Billiton is a dual listed company. The figure represents only the minority stake owned by BHP Billiton Plc.
^ : Unilever is a dual listed company. The figure represents only the minority stake owned by Unilever Plc.
^ : Eckett, Stephen (ed.) (2004), The UK Stock Market Almanac 2005, Petersfield, Harriman House. ISBN 1-897597-46-0

Source: File linked from this page on the London Stock Exchange's official site. Companies which do not have their primary listing on the London Stock Exchange are not eligible for membership of the FTSE 100 Index and have been excluded.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Rank	Company	Capitalisation (£m)
1	BP	128,497
2	Royal Dutch Shell	122,656
3	HSBC	105,113
4	GlaxoSmithKline	86,311
5	Vodafone Group	78,166
6	Royal Bank of Scotland Group	55,643
7	AstraZeneca	45,236
8	Barclays plc	39,538
9	HBOS	38,439
10	Anglo American	29,341
11	Rio Tinto Group ^[1]	28,244
12	British American Tobacco	27,618
13	Lloyds TSB	27,181
14	Tesco	26,035
15	Diageo	24,898
16	BHP Billiton ^[2]	23,434
17	BG Group	20,306
18	BT Group	18,980
19	O2	17,322
20	Standard Chartered	16,983
21	Unilever ^[3]	16,744
22	Aviva	16,671
23	SABMiller	15,876
24	National Grid plc	15,422
25	Reckitt Benckiser	13,883
26	Prudential Plc	13,336
27	Imperial Tobacco Group	12,408
28	BAE Systems	12,256
29	Cadbury Schweppes	11,422
30	Marks & Spencer	10,256
31	Scottish Power	10,044