British blue chips shrugged off their pre-Christmas tremors and continued the recent run that has surprised so many strategists. The FTSE 100 index ran ahead more than 100 points in the first couple of hours and, although it came under pressure later in the day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened weaker, it closed up 74.3 at 5,941.5.

The smaller indices, which had held up on Christmas Eve, saw lesser gains. The FTSE 250 rose 30.7 to 4843.5 and the SmallCap 9.3 to 2,061.7.

However, the real story was in the turnover. Volume by the 6 p.m. cut-off reached only 286 million shares - and more than 13 per cent of that was in two stocks: BP and Quadrant Healthcare.

By contrast, turnover on a normal working day - even on Mondays and Fridays when volumes are traditionally light - would be light at 800 million shares.

"The trains were empty and there was a skeleton staff in the offices," said the head of sales trading at one broker.

Other dealers said there were basket trades carried out but they reflected nothing more than arbitrage between the Footsie and the relevant futures contract and the day's activity was futures-led.

Business was broadly on hold until the arrival of the euro on January 1st. Some strategists believe there could be a flood of buying from European institutions which have been waiting on the sidelines to see how the introduction of the new currency goes and which have cash to invest.

Others argue that the "January effect" - a sharp rise in equities as fund managers make their new year investment decisions - has already happened.

A sceptical Mr Richard Kersley at Credit Suisse First Boston maintains an end-1999 forecast of 6,200, just 260 points above last night's close.