A final-day slip did not prevent the FTSE 100 rising nearly 6% in 2012 in what was a volatile year for London’s blue-chip index.
The Footsie closed at 5,897.8 on Monday, up from 5,572.3 at the start of the year as fears over the eurozone crisis eased in the latter months of 2012.
Economic uncertainty on both sides of the Atlantic led the FTSE 100 to a high of 5,965.6 in March, but a low of 5,260.2 in June.
The top flight’s rise was overshadowed by the more UK-focused FTSE 250 Index however, which enjoyed a record year. The index climbed more than 22% to 12,375 on hopes that smaller, domestic firms will be the first to benefit from any turnaround in the fortunes of the UK economy.
On 2012’s last day of trading the FTSE 100 Index slipped 27.6 points, with just a handful of London’s blue-chip stocks in positive territory.
B&Q owner Kingfisher topped the risers board, up 2.2p to 284.1p, while defensive plays Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco also made gains, rising 8p to £23.73 and 12.5p to £31.21 respectively.
The fallers board featured defence company BAE Systems, which declined 4.1p to 336.9p, and Lloyds Banking Group after a fall of 0.8p to 47.9p.
However it has been a decent year for the part-nationalised bank, with its shares up 85% on hopes that it is close to paying dividends again having reduced the risks on its balance sheet.
The day’s biggest FTSE 100 risers included Evraz ahead 2p at 258.9p, Johnson Matthey up 16p at £23.76 and Wolseley ahead 18p at £29.
The biggest FTSE 100 fallers were Melrose Industries down 8.2p at 223.5p, Capital Shopping Centres off 7.6p at 350.2p and Wood Group down 13.5p at 726.5p
Barry Shepherd, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted Faroe Petroleum among the risers with a 1.1% gain to 136.375p, whilst Hunting added 0.83% to close at 787.75p.
The fallers included STV Group which slumped 2.44% to 100p, while Stagecoach dropped 1.25% to finish at 308p.