FTSE 100 expected to hit 6000 by end of this year

The FTSE 100 target is widely expected to post positive growth by the end of 2002 after 18 months of contraction. The index fell by some 17% over 2001. After starting the year at 6162, it had slipped to 5,118 as at 20 December, following a 4433 low on 21 September. Consensus points to a market rally pushing the FTSE 100 up toward the 6,000 region by the end of this year. Mike Bishop, head of pan-European equities at Morley Fund Management, says the past 18 months have seen the market slide from exceptionally expensive to cheap on the back of recession in both the US and Japan. ...