After flirting with it yesterday, the FTSE 100 finally breached the "psychologically important" 6,000-point level this morning. The last time the blue chip index traded above this level was back in 2001, writes Neil Hume, the Guardian's stock market reporter.
In the end all it took were a couple more takeover bids/approaches - L'Oreal has just revealed plans to buy Body Shop for £650m and Luminar, the UK's biggest nightclub operator, has received a takeover approach from Sarcens boss Nigel Wray. There was also news from Vodafone that it plans to return £6bn to its shareholders once it has completed the sale of its troubled Japanese business.
The big question now in the Square Mile is whether it can keep going.
The answer, at least in the short term, is yes. Thanks to the recent flurry of takeover bids for UK companies - O2, P&O, BOC to name but a few - there is a mountain of cash that needs to be reinvested and with interest rates and bond yields at historically low levels, equities, or shares, are the only asset class that offers a decent return for investors at the moment.
However, it is worth remembering that if the FTSE 100 continues rising at its current pace - it has gained around 6% so far this year - then it will be above its previous record high of 6,950.6 by December. Given the uncertain political and economic backdrop there would seem to be little justification for that. So while the market may keep rising the gains are likely to be more moderate as the year goes on.
