Yes, the Footsie hitting 10,000 is irrelevant, but it's still worthy of a bit of marketing razzmatazz

There are three ways to view the FTSE 100 index hitting 10,000 points for the first time.

- Nils Pratley

One is to say round numbers are irrelevant. Since share prices are meant to go up over the long term, an index created in 1984 at a starting value of 1,000 was bound to get there eventually.

In any case, a pure value-weighted points measure doesn't capture the dividends paid by component companies, which can add up to a material part of an investor's return over time if reinvested. Nor is the Footsie guaranteed to stay above 10,000, obviously. Such "bah humbug" points are all reasonable.

A second approach is to make bogus claims about what it means. That was the line taken by Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, who tweeted on Friday that "the FTSE 100 breaking through 10,000 points for the first time is a vote of confidence in Britain's economy".