FTSE cheers investors with 9% growth

The FTSE 100 Index cheered investors in 2010 with better-than-expected growth of about 9%, although there are fears that the coming year could be much more difficult for the London market.

The top flight finished near to a two-and-a-half-year high at 5899.9, despite a tempestuous year that included the bail-outs of Greece and Ireland, the formation of a new coalition government and a major disaster involving BP, its biggest constituent and leading payer of dividends.