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Where will the markets end in 2013?

A round-up of the views on where the FTSE will be at the end of 2013
December 21, 2012

The FTSE had a bumpy ride in 2012 as European leaders played budgetary 'chicken' on an epic scale, the electorate in the US flirted with a lurch to the right before falling once more for Obama's oratory charms, and the Chinese dragon coughed and spluttered before rumbling on, just a little slower than before; oh and London had a sports day and did rather well in the genteel world of velocipede racing.

We had the strongest start for the FTSE since 1989 and the index of 100 leading shares had risen some 7 per cent to 5970 by mid March. The old adage that 'as goes January, so goes the rest of the year' looked as though it was going to hold. Then eurozone reality kicked in and bond yields soared in Italy and Spain, the FTSE plunged 10 per cent reaching lows of 5230 by mid May.

Then something rather strange happened: European leaders agreed on something. Chancellor Merkel eased her iron grip on the purse strings and the European Central Bank hoovered up vast quantities of periphery bonds. Yields in Italy, Spain and Greece tumbled; markets roared ahead. So here we are with the FTSE back up to 5900, just a shade below its March highs and almost unchanged since the end of 2010. But enough looking back, what does 2013 hold?

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