The FTSE 100 futures are rising today as investors react to the ongoing coronavirus vaccine roll-out. The index is also rising because of the rising commodity prices and the relatively strong earnings by BHP.
FTSE 100 news: The FTSE index is rising today because investors have started to price-in a swift recovery of the UK economy. That’s after the government revealed that it had already vaccinated more than 15 million. The administration also committed to increasing the pace of vaccinations and avoiding further lockdowns in the future.
The index is also rising after the strong earnings from BHP. In a statement yesterday, the company said that it made $3.88 billion in net profit for the six months to December. That was lower than the $4.7 billion it generated a year earlier and was mostly beacuse of $2.2 billion in one-off charges. Other miners in the FTSE 100 have been doing well helped by the rising commodity prices.
However, the strong pound has been a drag for the FTSE index. The currency has risen to the highest level in almost two years.
FTSE 100 technical outlook
The daily chart shows that the FTSE 100 index has been on strong uptrend in the past few months. It has moved above the June 9 high of 6,527 and the 25-day and 15-day exponential moving averages. The index is still above the ascending black trendline.
Therefore, it seems like bulls are still in control, meaning that the index could continue rising. If this happens, the next level to watch is the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement at 7,067. However, a drop below 61.8% retracement at 6,577 will invalidate this trend.
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FTSE index chart
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