A sense of anti-climax pervaded much of the blue chip end of London's equity market yesterday as many stock prices slipped away during a relatively subdued post-Budget trading session. After a last-gasp tussle between the market's optimists and pessimists, the FTSE 100 was left with a hard-won 3.8 gain at 6,241.5. That was a far cry from its early showing, which saw the index drop just short of 70 points to well below the 6,200 mark.

But the weakness that affected blue chips for much of the day did not envelop the whole market. The mid and smallcap indices showed a marked reluctance to give back any of their recent strong gains.

The FTSE 250 added 33.3 to 5,409, while the FTSE SmallCap was up 11.2 to close at 2,334.

Dealers were surprised at the extent of the market's early setback, which they said was more a reflection of Wall Street's poor showing overnight - the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 33 points lower - than disillusionment with Mr Gordon Brown's third Budget. On the contrary, the Budget proposals drew a mostly enthusiastic response from the press and from many strategists.