FTSE 100 hits record high of 6959 after Greece's reform plan is approved

Shares in Britain's top companies pass high set at height of dotcom boom as Athens secures lifeline and belief grows about UK recovery gaining momentum

London's stock market has hit a record high, breaking through the levels set at the height of the dotcom boom on relief that debt-laden Greece had secured a lifeline from its creditors and increasing belief that the UK's economic recovery is gaining momentum.

After months of testing the previous record 6950 point mark - which was reached on the final trading day in December 1999 - the FTSE-100 index of the biggest companies on the London stock market hit 6959 on Tuesday. It closed at 6949, well above the previous closing record of 6930 - the level at which the benchmark index ended the 20th century.

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