The London Stock Exchange at its zenith

The UK's FTSE 100, which has seen 77% of trading days end in gains over the last 40 sessions, is flirting with the record high of 8,871 points reached on March 3 (8,908.82 points during trading).

The City's flagship index has rebounded 17.5% since its low on April 7, which was followed by a series of 16 consecutive gains that will be difficult to beat.

The stars of 2025 are silver mining group Fresnillo (+115%) and defense groups Babcock (+108%) and BAE Systems (+67%). Rolls-Royce, Airtel Africa, Coca-Cola Hellenic, and Lloyds also performed very well. The losers' podium includes advertising group WPP (-34%), hygiene and safety products retailer Bunzl (-29%) and spirits group Diageo (-21%). The FTSE 100 recorded 27 declines and 73 gains this year.

With growth of 8.5% in 2025, the British index is in line with the European average, as represented by the Stoxx Europe 600. It remains far behind the leading trio of the German DAX (+21%), the Spanish IBEX (+23%) and the Polish WIG (+25%).

The largest ETF tracking the FTSE 100 in Europe is the iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF – GBP (0.07% fees), or its version that reinvests dividends, the iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF Acc – GBP (0.09% fees).