FTSE for Friday: a retreat for the blue-chip index ahead of Easter break?
Independent analyst Alistair Strang provides an update following a televised speech by US President Donald Trump on Iran.
2nd April 2026 07:09
by Alistair Strang from Trends and Targets
It took a while for the penny to drop about the UK markets enjoying a proper holiday over the Easter weekend. So, due to the market being closed on Friday, we’re providing a near-term analysis for the FTSE 100 today.
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At first glance, things do not look good as during the night, futures markets moved down by 50 points. The reason seems to be straightforward, the US President Donald Trump threatening to hit Iran. World markets are not impressed with the president’s expression of his position, with crude oil shooting up in price and national indices being gapped down in value. It creates a pretty firm indication that we’re about to go into the Easter weekend with the markets in a pretty foul position.
Below 10,250 has the potential to trigger reversal to an initial 10,190 with our secondary, if broken, at 10,108 points. If triggered, the tightest stop is absurdly attractive at 10,284 points. We distrust this, the risk/reward situation being more attractive than the unopened Easter eggs on top of our fridge.
Visually, there is a strong indication that the 10,108-point level should prove valid, matching the level of the current upward trend breakthrough blue on the chart and creating a logical bounce point. But, should 10,108 break, the big-picture calculates trouble, which could eventually (hopefully) end at 9,384 points.
Source: Trends and Targets. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
The FTSE 100 has been in a cycle where conventional thinking has been indicating the market intends above 10,400 points to now make an attempt at 10,567 points with our secondary, if exceeded, now calculating at 10,934 points.
Were it not for overnight futures gapping down the markets, we’d be cheerfully assuming the FTSE 100 intends to remain within its current gain cycle. Instead, it feels like we’re about to witness the FTSE winding back towards the 10,100 level.
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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