The 

Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or,
informally, the "Footsie", is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock
Exchange with (in principle) the highest market capitalisation. The index is maintained by the FTSE
Group, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group. It is essentially a list of the 100 largest
companies listed on the London Stock Exchange and the FTSE 100 is by far the most widely used UK
stock market indicator so we will focus mainly on this indicator

Before and after referendum

Before

In February 2016, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the Government was to
recommend that the UK should remain in the EU and that the referendum would be held on 23 June,
marking the official launch of the campaign. He also announced that Parliament would enact secondary
legislation relating to the European Union Referendum Act 2015 on 22 February. This announcement led
significant drop in the FTSE 100 index with a slump to 5,499 point in February.

On June 14, 2016, polls showed that a vote in favor of Brexit was more likely. The FTSE 100 fell 2% and
markets sold off globally. On June 20, 2016, after further polls suggested a move back towards Remain,
the pound and the FTSE recovered. Global markets also recovered
After

Since voting to leave the EU on 23 June 2016, UK stock market returns have lagged behind international
peers and a historically wide valuation discount has become ingrained. The index had closed at 6,338.10
at the end of June 23. But in the immediate aftermath of the referendum, the FTSE 100 fell nearly 9% on
June 24, with shares in the five largest British banks particularly hard hit and nursing their biggest falls
(average of 21%) since the collapse of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008. More than that,
[The vote led to stock market crashes around the world. Investors in worldwide stock markets lost more
than the equivalent of 2 trillion United States dollars on 24 June 2016, making it the worst single day loss
in history. George Soros called the referendum a Black Friday for Britain. However, The London market
regained some poise after the Bank of England pledged to intervene to help shore up the markets. Those
assurances calmed jittery markets somewhat and by afternoon trading, which help the FTSE 100 had
erased some of its early losses. As a result, FTSE 100 index still ended the week at 6138 pointes, higher
than it started at 6,021 points (17/06/2016).

When the markets reopened the Following Monday, the FTSE 100 showed a steady decline losing over
2% by mid-afternoon.

By mid afternoon on 27 June 2016 the FTSE 100 had surrendered £85 billion and the global market
losses amounted to a total of 3 trillion US dollars. At the end of month, it had recovered all its losses
then risen above pre-referendum levels, indeed, risen further to a ten-month high. On 11 July, it officially
entered bull market territory, having risen by more than 20% from its February low.

We can say that 2016 is a tumultuous year of The FTSE 100 index at an all-time high with ending point of
7,142, up 22.57 points, beating the previous peak of 7,129.82 set in October.
Source: https://kunaldesai.blog/ftse100-annual-returns/

According to the London stock exchange, the index surged by around £141bn during 2017. The final
trading day of 2017 ended with a flourish, with the FTSE 100 closing up 64 points or 0.85% at 7,687
points. Just before the close, it hit a new intraday high of 7697 points.

This means the blue-chip index has gained 7.6% during 2017.

Britain’s leading stock market index has suffered its worst year in a decade partly due to economic
worries, Brexit uncertainty and the main reason of this significant drop is the trade war between the US
and China all spooked investors.

The FTSE 100 tumbled by 12.5% during 2018, its biggest annual decline since 2008, wiping out more
than £240bn of shareholder value.

The blue-chip index of top UK shares ended the year at 6,728 points, down compared to the last trading
day of 2017. The sell-off has inflicted significant losses on pension funds, major fund managers and small
investors alike.

At the final closing bell of 2019, the UK blue-chip index was at 7,542.44 - above over 800 points, or 12%
in comparision with previous year. Eventhough, the FTSE 100 index closed out the last session of the year
– and the decade – with a whimper rather than a bang, but it still notched up pretty solid gains for the
two time periods.
On 23 January 2020, the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020
received Royal Assent.  This is the legislation that will implement the
withdrawal agreement negotiated by the UK and the EU.

At 11pm on 31 January 2020, the UK officially left the EU and entered a

transition period.

Britain’s blue-chip share index has suffered its worst year since the 2008
financial crisis, Brexit uncertainty with as the Covid-19 pandemic hit stocks
during a turbulent 12 months for investors. The FTSE 100 (the FTSE) crashed
by over 34% in the first few months of 2020. Having started the year at 7,542
points,