It is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. The index began on 3 January 1984 with a base level of 1000; the highest value reached to date is 6950.6, on 30 December 1999.
It is the most widely used of the FTSE Group's indices, and is frequently reported (e.g. on UK news bulletins) as a measure of business prosperity.
source:wikipedia.org

