New listings on FTSE 100, none of them London-based

London's benchmark index, the FTSE 100, is starting to look distinctly foreign after three more firms from abroad get promoted to the top rank.

Irish construction firm CRH, along with two Russian miners, namely Evraz and Polymetal, will be replacing bank Investec, satellite group Inmarsat and mining firm Lonmin on 16 December.

Speaking out on the issue of the rising number of foreign-based firms admitted to the UK's main index, Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers, has said: "The inclusion of foreign firms is muddying the waters of what the FTSE 100 represents."

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Other leading foreign companies on the FTSE 100 included a number of miners, namely ENRC, Kazakhmys and Xstrata.

The recent evaluation of the Footise also saw troubled firms Premier Foods, Thomas Cook and Mothercare downgraded from the FTSE 250 to the FTSE Small Cap index.