FTSE for Friday: blue-chip index within reach of 10,000
It looks like Santa has arrived, writes independent analyst Alistair Strang, who gives his view on the FTSE 100.
19th December 2025 09:00
by Alistair Strang from Trends and Targets
The UK index is within sniffing distance of extending itself to join the elite ranks of stock markets with five-figure index numbers.
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All kidding aside, once an index gets into the five-figure zone, stop loss levels become very difficult, often to the point of becoming absurd. This tends to make large surges upwards an expensive bet to make, demanding strict logic to remain safe when chasing a trade.
Currently, the UK market suggests movement above just 9,860 points should trigger a little journey to an initial 9,976 points.
Visually, there’s a suggestion of hesitation at such a level, the fact that the target is above the market’s previous all-time high injects some hope that an effort will be made to achieve our secondary, which calculates at 10,060 points.
This would certainly justify a party popper or two, especially as a massive number of traders will open short positions expecting sharp reversals from their perceived “top” at the 10,000 level.
We can provide a third level target providing a long-term attraction from 10,230 points.
If triggered, our tightest stop is massive, at 9,750 points.
If real trouble is planned, below 9,640 has the potential of triggering reversals down to an initial 9,531 points with our secondary, if broken, working out at 9,424 points.
For now, it looks like Santa has arrived and we suspect a visit to 10,060 should be expected before the end of the year.
Source: Trends and Targets. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
Alistair Strang has led high-profile and "top secret" software projects since the late 1970s and won the original John Logie Baird Award for inventors and innovators. After the financial crash, he wanted to know "how it worked" with a view to mimicking existing trading formulas and predicting what was coming next. His results speak for themselves as he continually refines the methodology.
Alistair Strang is a freelance contributor and not a direct employee of Interactive Investor. All correspondence is with Alistair Strang, who for these purposes is deemed a third-party supplier. Buying, selling and investing in shares is not without risk. Market and company movement will affect your performance and you may get back less than you invest. Neither Alistair Strang or Interactive Investor will be responsible for any losses that may be incurred as a result of following a trading idea.
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