The FTSE All Share index, representing the performance of all 623 eligible companies listed on the London Stock Exchange has finished the week at 2,985.57, an increase of 8.10 points on the day but 27.05 points lower than its 3,012.62 opening value at the start of the week.

So far this year the FTSE All Share index, which accounts for approximately 98% of the UK’s market capitalisation, has gone down 77.28 points from its’ opening price of 3062.85 at the start of trading on 4^th January 2011.

The FTSE All-Share Index is considered to be the best performance measure of the overall London equity market. Over the last 52 weeks the FTSE All Share index has fluctuated between 2,479 and 3,171

The Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept base rates at their record low of 0.5% (where it’s been since a reduction from 1.00% on 5^th March 2009). The major sources of inflationary pressures remain beyond the control of the MPC.