The long-awaited hostile bid for Germany's Mannesmann by Vodafone AirTouch provided much of the excitement in London's stock market yesterday but proved a hindrance to the FTSE 100 index.

It was always likely that the actual bid would drag down the Vodafone AirTouch share price and, in turn, the index because of the mobile phone group's heavy weighting.

The expiry of FTSE index options in mid-morning provided a brief respite, driving Footsie to within six points of 6,600. But the market quickly fell back and finished 68.5 lower at 6,482.3. At its worst the index was down 94.6. The performance left the blue-chip index 29.3 off on the week.