Buxton: FTSE will struggle to break through 6,000 in short term

Schroders' Richard Buxton has warned investors the chances of the FTSE 100 breaking through the 6,000 level within the next 12 to 18 months is remote.

The head of UK equities and manager of the group's £2.5bn UK Alpha Plus fund said the blue chip index is likely to continue to trade sideways for three to five years as austerity in the UK and the eurozone debt crisis play out. Speaking at the Cofunds Investment Forum this morning, he said: "If you look at very long term historic UK stockmarket returns, the average is 6% per annum. However, this tends to come from a few years of great returns and then 10 or 20 years of sideways trading," he said. "Clearly with the ongoing debt crisis we are going to see subdued growth. I think the pro...