And any minute now they would take the Footsie with them.

Last week, the Footsie, as it is affectionately called, rose 2 percent.

The Footsie closed just 2.3 points higher at 2,840.0.

By lunchtime the Footsie one hundred had lost sixteen points on its overnight position.

The Footsie index of 100 leading shares was up 6.3 points or 0.2 percent to close at 3,122.8 points.

The Footsie fell by 53.3 points or 1.76 percent and below 3,000 points to 2,966.4 points.

That includes the 1987 stock market crash, when the Footsie fell by 20pc in two days but ended the year slightly higher than it began.

Over at the London Stock Exchange, the Footsie had no idea which way to turn.

The Footsie has now dropped 16 percent since its highest-ever level at 3,539.2 points, reached on February 3.

The Footsie 100 Index of the Top 100 shares has more or less stood still this year.

The truth is that the Footsie is proving to be a misleading guide to what is really happening in the market.

The Footsie actually rose almost a 1pc during the morning session, stoking hopes the losing streak was set to end.

The Footsie was sporting a 150-point rise at one stage early afternoon before the appearance of the odd profit-taker pushed prices back slightly.

Other drug shares have also fallen, so the Footsie Index is giving a misleading impression as to the underlying strength of the market.

'I wouldn't be surprised to see the Footsie at around 2,000 to 2,100.'

As the fall-out on other international stock markets was again shrugged aside, the Footsie moved higher, exacerbating the pain for the futures bears.

The London stock market fell on Friday as the Footsie index shed 18.6 points or 0.6 percent to end at 3,119.2 points.

With a number of stocks going ex-dividend, market-makers estimated the combined effect of this to be a 6 point knock to the Footsie.

Bowater has had a miserable time since joining the Footsie last week, the share price falling a good 10 p.c.

By mid-afternoon, the Footsie had fallen almost 80 points, or 3 per cent, from the all-time peak reached at the start of trading on Tuesday.

Real business remained very slack and, with Wall Street heading south in the afternoon, the Footsie slipped in to a 2404.2 point close, up 3.3.

Erm hang on, I've thought of another one that was on the other night, Do the Footsie.

An eventual 9.5 point gain on the Footsie to 2600.5 was mainly due to a strong early-session bounce on Wall Street.

At the close of business the Footsie 100 index was up 14.5 points at 2117.9 while Wall Street opened stronger up 7.89 points at 2664.64.

The final reading on the Footsie cash market was 2640.2, up 39.7 points and 39.4 short of the indicator's all time high, registered on September 2 last year.

The subsequent quarterly valuations present a healthy picture of regular advances which outstripped the FT 100 Share Index, the DOW Jones Industrials Index and the World Index.

The FTSE 100 is now up just 16 points to 5585.

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 54 points lower.

The FTSE 100 is now down 110 points to 5,887.

Where do you think the FTSE 100 will close at the end of 2009?

The FTSE 100 was established in 1984 at 1,000 points.

The FTSE 100 was up again this morning, rising 45 points to 5,835.

By the close the FTSE 100 had climbed 36.51 points to 5693.95.

The FTSE 100 closed at 6,282.2, up 1.2 percent for the week.

The FTSE 100 suffered its biggest drop in six weeks.

Many of the shares making up the FTSE 100 are blue chips.

The FTSE 100 index finished 16.4 points lower at 2,342.1.

The FTSE 100 index closed at 5,855.3, down 40.7 points for the week.

The FTSE 100 ended the week 2.3 percent higher, closing at 6,472.80.

Its economy features 65 of the FTSE 100 companies.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.8pc to 5,613 points at the open.

The FTSE 100 is set to open up less than 0.1pc at 5,443 points.

The FTSE 100 has gained around 11pc over the year.

The FTSE 100 is also still down 32pc so far this year.

The FTSE 100 closed down 12.21 points at 5,127.57 on thin volumes.

The FTSE 100 has fallen below the 5000 level more than once this year as a result.

The FTSE 100 is up 48 points, recovering half of yesterday's losses.

The firm is the FTSE 100 member and has only recently emerged from crisis.

Oh and the FTSE 100 is up 22 points :)

The FTSE 100 isn't in great shape generally, down 91 points at 5105.

Buying for the new account, took the FTSE 100 index up 16.8 points to 1,363.5.

The Footsie index of 100 leading shares was up 6.3 points or 0.2 percent to close at 3,122.8 points.

Other drug shares have also fallen, so the Footsie Index is giving a misleading impression as to the underlying strength of the market.

The London stock market fell on Friday as the Footsie index shed 18.6 points or 0.6 percent to end at 3,119.2 points.

In London the Footsie index of 100 leading shares fell by 19.3 points or by 0.6 percent to 3,089.2 points despite a firm opening on Wall Street.

The Footsie index of 100 leading shares rose by 7.9 points to 3,123.5 points or by 0.25 percent and gilt-edged stock rose by up to half a point.

The Footsie index of 100 leading shares fell by 68.4 points or by 2.2 percent to 3,020.7 points and the market's capitalisation fell by more than nine billion pounds (13.5 billion dollars).

The Footsie index of 100 leading shares here fell below 3,000 points for the first time since September, while in Paris the CAC-40 index closed at its lowest point this year.

Share prices here fell sharply in late trading on Monday in response to losses on Wall Street, with the Footsie index of 100 leading shares losing 18.9 points (0.6 percent) to close at 3,108.4.

That turned out to be true, but once the initial markdown had occurred the Footsie index traded in a fairly narrow band all day, although the number of transactions and the volume of shares traded held up strongly.

Share prices here rallied from an initial sharp loss to the lowest levels since September, to show a net loss of one point of 0.3 percent at 3,019.7 points in the Footsie index of leading shares on Thursday.

In London share prices shed early gains in response to a weak opening on Wall Street, but the Footsie index of 100 leading shares still ended up on the day with a rise of 4.5 points or 0.1 percent to 3,127.3 points.

And any minute now they would take the Footsie with them.

And some of those people may choose to play footsie with the press.

But what had Footsie been doing at the television network building in the first place?

Footsie was not in the least surprised to see him there.

He saw Footsie walk past him and step into a lift.

And Footsie had never seemed to care about the quiz.

When we're eating in public she likes to play footsie under the table.

Let's suppose you fire her for playing footsie with the opposition.

It was that boy who used to play the part of Footsie."

Any further increase could push Footsie, which started the year at 1,782.8, below 2,000.

Bloodhound and Footsie were both well out of the race.

In less than five minutes Footsie walked past him again, carrying an envelope.

"We believe there is a strong likelihood of footsie hitting 4000 at some point during 2012."

Does anyone out there know we're playing footsie with a bottle of soup?

Perhaps that is why the restaurant has never been taken very seriously by people more interested in food than footsie.

Last week, the Footsie, as it is affectionately called, rose 2 percent.

He thought Footsie had come back to retrieve the stolen cups.

We went to get a bite to eat, where he and I played a marvelous game of footsie.

The Footsie closed just 2.3 points higher at 2,840.0.

As we ate we played a little footsie under the table.

Under the table their naked feet touched, they played a gentle game of footsie.

"I came here tonight for information, not to play footsie with the Master of the City."

But he was sure Footsie would try again.

It is just dishonest playing footsie with people to promote the dirty green game.

By lunchtime the Footsie one hundred had lost sixteen points on its overnight position.

Germany's most-watched stock market index fell more than 3 percent, while the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 index in London fell 2.2 percent, closing below the level at which it started the year.

That was 58 percent above the $4.3 million median for top executives in the companies listed on the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 index in Britain, according to Cliff Weight, a director at Independent Remuneration Solutions, a compensation consultant in London.

People have been known to attempt more than footsie under the table.

And some of those people may choose to play footsie with the press.

It was that boy who used to play the part of Footsie.

But what had Footsie been doing at the television network building in the first place?

The Footsie was today on course to finish the week higher for the first time in seven weeks.

So by that measure – looking at the footsie leader board.

He saw Footsie walk past him and step into a lift.

Ah yes — how is the Footsie doing this morning?

Anyway, what’s a good stop loss on this Footsie short?

Where do you think the footsie end the years neil?

It’s as if Ryan is playing footsie with him under the table.

And the Footsie is up about 5 per cent during that period.

And Footsie had never seemed to care about the quiz.

That’s why there was a lot of confusion over where the Footsie might open today.

When we're eating in public she likes to play footsie under the table.

They aren't interested in playing footsie with an alternative partner at the moment.

Let's suppose you fire her for playing footsie with the opposition.

She looked at her shoes, nervously playing footsie with herself.

What on earth is he doing playing footsie with Henley?

The heated footsie was then to be worn for 20 minutes.

Our short on the Footsie is finally coming good.

It's no time for "politicians to play footsie with each other," he says.

Continuing to play footsie with opponents will only get him into more trouble.

The Footsie followed suit, with miners taking the biggest hit.