After mounting speculation last week that the blue chip index would climb to an all time high, it yesterday set a new record, closing at 7,787.97.

A stronger dollar, rising oil price and pushback of an interest rate rise contributed to its performance.

But the run was short-lived as the Footsie opened at 7,776.20, falling to 7,767.60, according to the London Stock Exchange.

Russ Mould, AJ Bell investment director, said: “Having succeeded last night in setting a new record high, the FTSE 100 takes a small step back thanks to weakness in pharmaceutical, utility and telecoms stocks.

“Nonetheless, that level still means the FTSE 100 has recovered all of the losses caused by the global market sell-off in February and is now trading 1.1% up year-to-date.

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“That’s slightly better than Japan whose Nikkei 225 index is up 0.7% so far this year, although not quite as a good as the S&P 500 in the US (up 1.7%) and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index (up 3.9%) year-to-date.”

Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, added: “The death of the bull market has been greatly exaggerated, not for the first time in recent history. The Footsie did endure a shaky start to the year, but after two months of steady climbing, has now regained and surpassed its previous high.

“Investing is of course a long-term game, and the twists and turns along the way are less important than the final destination. There will come a time when the stock market will tumble again, at which point investors should take it in their stride and look beyond the immediate situation.”