Questions grow over the future of the London stockmarket

If this downward trend were to continue, small-cap firms—those which are valued between $300m and $2bn—could be gone from the exchange by 2028, according to Peel Hunt, an investment bank. Larger firms are also causing alarm. Twelve companies being targeted by would-be acquirers are in the FTSE 350, the 350 largest companies on the exchange, compared with just two last year.