The FTSE 100 has had a good crisis, but can it continue?
While all around stock markets tumble, the FTSE 100 has just seen mild losses this year — throw in dividends, and the return is positive, although less than inflation. Can the good times continue for this perennial laggard of global stock markets?
If you focus on the largest FTSE 100 companies, say the top ten, then actually, performance in the year to date has been pretty good. Of the top ten, only three have seen shares fall — Unilever, Diageo and Rio Tinto. By contrast, AstraZeneca, Shell, HSBC, GlaxoSmithKline, British American Tobacco, BP and Glencore have all seen sharp rises.In fact, the mean performance of the top ten this year has been up by almost ten per cent; throw in dividends, and you have an inflation-busting portfolio.See Income Boosters update: these yields looks safe Contrast that with the S&P 500 — down almost 14…