FTSE 100 closes at record high

LONDON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Britain's blue-chip stock index, the FTSE 100, surged to a new all-time closing high on Monday, surpassing its previous record.

The index soared by 128 points, ending the day at 8023.87 points and eclipsing its prior record of 8,014 points from February 2023. However, it still falls short of its peak intraday level of 8,047.06 points, also achieved last February.

Major UK retailers, including Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury, and Tesco, saw their shares climb by 4.4 percent, 3.9 percent, and 3.4 percent respectively on Monday.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, told the Guardian that relaxed geopolitical tensions, rosier economic prospects for the UK, and the potential for interest rate cuts by the Bank of England all contributed to the market's rise.