The FTSE 100 yesterday rose for an eleventh consecutive trading day, making this the joint longest winning streak the index has ever produced.

The index has risen for 11 trading days in a row on three other occasions, so if the rally continues today, it will be the longest winning run since the index started 33 years ago.

Laith Khalaf, Senior Analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown commented:

‘The stock market moves down as well as up, but you wouldn’t have guessed that if you’d been keeping your eye on the Footsie for the last few weeks.

The market rally has been driven by a falling pound and rising metals metal prices, and in its eleventh day received a boost from an unexpected source in the form of the supermarkets, after Morrison issued a positive Christmas trading statement.

While the FTSE 100 stands at a record level, valuations on the UK stock market are not at abnormally high levels once you factor in the earnings produced by UK companies. What’s more the headline index doesn’t account for dividends, which are a key element of returns from the UK stock market, and are particularly attractive when interest rates are so low.

As ever the short term could bring feast or famine, but either way investors should keep focussed on the long term, which is where the stock market really comes into its own.’

(Source: Hargreaves Lansdown)