So after reaching a 13-year high of 6840 on Wednesday, the FTSE 100 dropped 2.1% on Thursday and fell another 0.6% or 42.45 points on Friday to 6654.34.

Bullish investors had this week sent the benchmark index surging to its highest level since December 1999, taking it back to levels not seen since the infamous dotcom bubble.

A 2% drop in the FTSE 100 is not that unusual, but they have become more frequent in recent years. On Thursday the leading index dropped 2.1%, its biggest daily percentage fall for a year, as investors fretted about a possible end to quantitative ...

A day after the FTSE 100 came within 90 points of its December 1999 peak, the index slumped 2.1%, down 143.48 points at 6696.79.

So the FTSE 100 finished down 143.48 points at 6696.79, a 2.1% decline which marks its worst daily performance since exactly a year ago.

Until today, the FTSE 100 had risen 16pc so far this year and some had feared a correction - a sharp, rapid fall in the market - was overdue.

The FTSE 100 is, as we know, close to its all time highs reached on the last trading day of December 1999. The index is current up 8.65 points at 6812.52, compared to the peak of 6930.

So having climbed as high as 6875, the FTSE 100 finished 36.4 points higher at 6840.27, just 90 points from its peak of 6930 reached on 30 December 1999.

The FTSE 100 Index surged to its second-highest ever close today amid further signs central banks will keep the printing presses rolling.

A day after the FTSE 100 reached its best level since September 2000, London's benchmark index surged a further 48.24 points to 6,803.87, taking the main board to another significant milestone.