FTSE for Friday: feeling positive about the FTSE 100
With the sun out and a long weekend ahead, independent analyst Alistair Strang explains why he's in an upbeat mood about the UK stock market's potential.
1st May 2026 07:44
by Alistair Strang from Trends and Targets
From the start of May, it looks like we may be hitting a change in the market's weather. There appears a broad expectation some sanity may appear in the oil markets due to the UAE withdrawing from the OPEC price fixing cartel. But it is a bit of a concern the Emirates have recommended their citizens leave several OPEC members borders, in what sounds like an expectation of retaliation once UAE starts making decisions for itself, rather than adhere to the cartel's line.
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As for the FTSE 100, above 10,396 near term has the potential to visit some positive cheer on the UK main market. Movement such as this should prove capable of triggering a rise to an initial 10,480 with our secondary, if exceeded, calculating at 10,584 points.
In such an instance, the tightest stop is quite wide at 10,277 points but, given the increments for jumps in 100-point steps, this makes quite a bit of sense.
For things to go adrift on the FTSE, below 10,277 risks triggering reversals down to an initial 10,187 with our secondary, if broken, indicating a splashdown at 10,017 points eventually.
At present, we are inclined to lean toward optimism, especially as we’ve been able to drive with the roof down every day this week, a truly unusual symptom of living in Argyll.
Have a good long weekend.
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.
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